City of Bones
by kaitlyn hudgens
Summary: This is a story based on the book City of Bones  Cassandra Clare . Read and review?
1. Pandemonium

**PANDEMONIUM**

"You have got to be kidding me," the bouncer said, folding his arms across his massive chest. He stared down at the boy in the red zip-up jacket and shook his shaved head. "You can't bring that thing in here."

The fifty or so teenagers in line outside the Pandemonium Club leaned forward to eavesdrop. It was a long wait to get into the all-ages club, especially on a Sunday, and not much generally happened in line. The bouncers were fierce and would come down instantly on anyone who looked like they were going to start trouble. Fifteen-year-old Sharpay Evans, standing in line with her best friend, Troy, leaned forward along with everyone else, hoping for some excitement.

"Aw, come on." The kid hoisted the thing up over his head. It looked like a wooden beam, pointed at one end. "It's part of my costume."

The bouncer raised an eyebrow. "Which is what?"

The boy grinned. _He was normal-enough-looking,_ Sharpay though, _for Pandemonium._ He had electric blue dyed hair that stuck up around his head like the tendrils of a startled octopus, but no elaborate facial tattoos or big metal bars through his ears or lips. "I'm a vampire hunter." He pushed down on the wooden thing. It bent as easily as a blade of grass bending sideways. "It's fake. Foam rubber. See?"

The boy's wide eyes were way too bright a green, Sharpay noticed: the color of antifreeze, spring grass. Colored contact lenses, probably. The bouncer shrugged, abruptly bored. "Whatever. Go In."

The boy slid past him, quick as an eel. Sharpay liked the lilt to his shoulders, the way he tossed his hair as he went. There was a word for him that her mother would have used–_insouciant._

"You thought he was cute," said Troy, sounding resigned. "Didn't you?"

Sharpay dug her elbow into his ribs, but didn't answer.

* * *

><p>Inside, the club was full of dry-ice smoke. Colored lights played over the dance floor, turning it into a multicolored fairyland of blues and acid greens, hot pinks and golds.<p>

The boy in the red jacket stroked the long razor-sharp blade in his hands, an idle smile playing over his lips. It had been so easy–a little bit of a glamour on the blade, to make it look harmless. Another glamour on his eyes, and the moment the bouncer had looked straight at him, he was in. Of course, he could probably have gotten by without all that trouble, but it was part of the fun–fooling the mundies, doing it all out in the open right in front of them, getting off on the blank looks on their sheeplike faces.

Not that the humans didn't have their uses. The boy's green eyes scanned the dance floor, where slender limbs clad in scraps of silk and black leather appeared and disappeared inside the revolving columns of smoke as the mundies danced. Girls tossed their long hair, boys swung their leather-clad hips, and bare skin glittered with swear. Vitality just _poured_ off them, waves of energy that filled him with a drunken dizziness. His lip curled. They didn't know how lucky they were. They didn't know what it was like to eke out of life in a dead world, where the sun hung limp in the sky like a burned cinder. Their lives burned as brightly as candle flames–and were as easy to snuff out.

His hand tightened on the blade he carried, and he had begun to step out onto the dance floor when a girl broke away from the mass of dancers and began walking toward him. He stared at her. She was beautiful, for a human–long hair nearly the precise color of black ink, charcoal eyes. Floor-length white gown, the kind women used to wear when this world was younger. Lace sleeves belled out around her slim arms. Around her neck was a thick silver chain, on which hung a dark red pendant the size of a baby's fist. He only had to narrow his eyes to know that is was real–real and precious. His mouth started to water as she neared him. Vital energy pulsed from her like blood from an open wound. She smiled, passing him, beckoning with her eyes. He turned to follow her, tasting the phantom sizzle of her death on his lips.

It was always easy. He could already feel the power of her evaporating life coursing through his veins like fire. Humans were so stupid. They had something so precious, and they barely safeguarded it at all. They threw away their lives for money, for packets of powder, for a stranger's charming smile. The girl was a pale ghost retreating through the colored smoke. She reached the wall and turned, bunching her skirt up in her hands, lifting it as she grinned at him. Under the skirt, she was wearing thigh-high boots.

He sauntered up to her, his skin prickling with her nearness. Up close she wasn't so perfect: he could see the mascara smudged under her eyes, the sweat sticking her hair to her neck. He could smell her mortality, the sweet rot of corruption. _Got you,_ he thought.

A cool smile curled her lips. She moved to the side, and he could see that she was leaning against a closed door. 'NO ADMITTANCE–STORAGE' was scrawled across it in red paint. She reached behind her for the knob, turned it, slid inside. He caught a glimpse of stacked boxes, tangled wiring. A storage room. He glanced behind him–no one was looking. So much the better if she wanted privacy.

He slipped into the room after her, unaware that he was being followed.

* * *

><p>"So," Troy said, "pretty good music, eh?"<p>

Sharpay didn't reply. They were dancing, or what passed for it–a lot of swaying back and forth with occasional lunges toward the floor as if one of them had dropped a contact lens–in a space between a group of teenage boys in metallic corsets, and a young Asian couple who were making out passionately, their colored hair extensions tangled together like vines. A boy with a lip piercing and a teddy bear backpack was handing out free tablets of herbal ecstasy, his parachute pants flapping in the breeze from the wind machine. Sharpay wasn't paying much attention to their immediate surroundings–her eyes were on the blue-haired boy who'd talked his way into the club. He was prowling through the crowd as if he were looking for something. There was something about the way he moved that reminded her of something…

"I, for one," Troy went on, "am enjoying myself immensely."

This seemed unlikely. Troy, as always, stuck out at the club like a sore thumb, in jeans and an old T-shirt that said 'MADE IN BROOKLYN' across the front. His freshly scrubbed hair was dark brown instead of green or pink, and his glasses perched crookedly on the end of his nose. He looked less as if he were contemplating the powers of darkness and more as if he were on his way to chess club.

"Mhm." Sharpay knew perfectly well that he came to Pandemonium with her only because she liked it, that he thought it was boring. She wasn't even sure why it was that she liked it–the clothes, the music made it like a dream, someone else's life, not her boring real life at all. But she was always too shy to talk to anyone but Troy.

The blue-haired boy was making his way off the dance floor. He looked a little lost, as if he hadn't found whom he was looking for. Sharpay wondered what would happen if she went up and introduced herself, offered to show him around. Maybe he'd just stare at her. Or maybe he was shy too. Maybe he'd be grateful and pleased, and try not to show it, the way boys did–but she'd know. Maybe–

The blue-haired boy straightened up suddenly, snapping to attention, like a hunting dog on point. Sharpay followed the line of his gaze, and saw the girl in the white dress.

_Oh, well,_ Sharpay thought, trying not to feel like a deflated party balloon. _I guess that's that._ They girl was gorgeous, the kind of girl Sharpay would have liked to draw–tall and ribbon-slim, with a long spill of black hair. Even at this distance Sharpay could see the red pendant around her throat. It pulsed under the lights of the dance floor like a separate, disembodied heart

"I feel," Troy went on, "that this evening DJ Bat is doing a singularly exceptional job. Don't you agree?"

Sharpay rolled her eyes and didn't answer; Troy hated trance music. Her attention was on the girl in the white dress. Through the darkness, smoke, and artificial fog, her pale dress shone out like a beacon. No wonder the blue-haired boy was following her as if he were under a spell, too distracted to notice anything else around him–even the two dark shaped hard on his heels, weaving after him through the crowd.

Sharpay slowed her dancing and stared. She could just make out that the shapes were boys, tall and wearing black clothes. She couldn't have said how she knew that they were following the other boy, but she did. She could see it in the way they paced him, their careful watchfulness, the slinking grace of their movements. A small flower of apprehension began to open inside her chest.

"Meanwhile," Troy added, "I wanted to tell you that lately I've been cross-dressing. Also, I'm sleeping with your mom. I thought you should know."

The girl had reached the wall, and was opening a door marked 'NO ADMITTANCE'. She beckoned the blue-haired boy after her, and they slipped through the door. It wasn't anything Sharpay hadn't seen before, a couple sneaking off the dark corners of the club to make out–but that made it even weirder that they were being followed.

She raised herself up on tiptoe, trying to see over the crowd. The two guys had stopped at the door and seemed to be conferring with each other. One of them was blonde, the other dark-haired. The blonde one reached into his jacket and drew out something long and sharp that flashed under the strobing lights. A knife. "Troy!" Sharpay shouted, and seized his arm.

"What?" Troy looked alarmed. "I'm not really sleeping with your mom, you know. I was just trying to get your attention. Not that your mom isn't a very attractive woman, for her age."

"Do you see those guys?" she pointed wildly, almost hitting a curvy black girl who was dancing nearby. The girl shot her an evil look. "Sorry–sorry!" Sharpay turned back to Troy. "Do you see those two guys over there? By that door?"

Troy squinted, then shrugged. "I don't see anything."

"There are two of them. They were following the guy with the blue hair–"

"The one you thought was cute?"

"Yes, but that's not the point. The blonde one pulled a knife."

"Are you _sure_?" Troy stared harder. "I still don't see anyone."

"I'm sure."

Suddenly all business, Troy squared his shoulders. "I'll get one of the security guards. You stay here." He strode away, pushing through the crowd.

Sharpay turned just in time to see the blonde boy slip through the 'NO ADMITTANCE' door, his friend right on his heels. She looked around; Troy was still trying to shove his way across the dance floor, but he wasn't making much progress. Even if she yelled now, no one would hear her, and by the time Troy got back, something terrible might_ already_ have happened. Biting hard on her lower lip, Sharpay started to wriggle through the crowd.

* * *

><p>"What's your name?"<p>

She turned and smiled. What faint light there was in the storage room spilled down through the high barred windows smeared with dirt. Piles of electrical cables, along with broken bits of mirrored disco balls and discarded paint cans littered the floor.

"Gabriella."

"That's a nice name." He walked toward her, stepping carefully among the wired in case any of them were live. In the faint light, she looked half-transparent, bleached of color, wrapped in white like an angel. It would be a pleasure to make her fall… "I haven't seen you here before."

"You're asking me if I come here often?" she giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. There was some sort of bracelet around her wrist, just under the cuff of her dress–then, as he neared her, he saw that it wasn't a bracelet at all but a pattern inked into her skin, a matrix of swirling lines.

He froze. "You–"

He didn't finish. She moved with lightning swiftness, striking out at him with her open hand, a blow to his chest that would have sent him down gasping if he'd been a human being. He staggered back, and now there was something in her hand, a coiling whip that glinted gold as she brought it down, curling around his ankles, jerking him off his feet. He hit the ground, writhing the hated metal biting deep into his skin. She laughed, standing over him, and dizzily he thought that he should have _known_. No human girl would wear a dress like the one Gabriella wore. She'd worn it to cover her skin–all of her skin.

Gabriella yanked hard on the whip, securing it. Her smile glittered like poisonous water. "He's all yours, boys."

A low laugh sounded behind him, and now there were hands on him, hauling him upright, throwing him against one of the concrete pillars. He could feel the damp stone under his back. His hands were pulled behind him, his wrists bound with wire. As he struggled, someone walked around the side of the pillar into his view: a boy, as young as Gabriella and just as pretty. His tawny eyes glittered like chips of amber. "So," the boy said. "Are there any more with you?"

The blue-haired boy could feel blood welling up under the too-tight metal, making his wrists slippery. "Any other what?"

"Come on now." The tawny-eyed boy held up his hands, and his dark sleeves slipped down, showing the runes inked all over his wrists, the backs of his hands, his palms. "You know what I am.

Far back inside his skull, the shackled boy's second set of teeth began to grind.

"_Shadowhunter_," he hissed.

The other boy grinned all over his face. "Got you," he said.

* * *

><p>Sharpay pushed the door to the storage room open, and stepped inside. For a moment she thought it was deserted. The only windows were high up and barred; faint street noise came through them, the sound of honking cars and squealing brakes. The room smelled like old paint, and a heavy layer of dust covered the floor, marked by smeared shoe prints.<p>

_There's no one in here,_ she realized, looking around in bewilderment. It was cold in the room, despite the August heat outside. Her back was icy with sweat. She took a step forward, tangling her feet in electrical wires. She bent down to free her sneaker from the cables–and heard voices. A girl's laugh, a boy answering sharply. When she straightened up, she saw them.

It was as if they had sprung into existence between one blink of her eyes and the next. There was the girl in her long while dress, her black hair hanging down her back like damp seaweed. The two boys were with her–the tall one with black hair like hers, and the smaller, fair one, whose hair gleamed like brass in the dim light coming through the windows high above. The fair boy was standing with his hands in his pockets, facing the punk kid, who was tied to a pillar with what looked like piano wire, his hands stretched behind him, his legs bound at the ankles. His face was pulled tight with pain and fear.

Heart hammering in her chest, Sharpay ducked behind the nearest concrete pillar and peered around it. She watched as the fair-haired boy paced back and forth, his arms now crossed over his chest. "So," he said. "You still haven't told me if there are any other of your kind with you."

_Your kind?_ Sharpay wondered what he was talking about. Maybe she'd stumbled into some kind of gang war.

"I don't know what you're talking about." The blue-haired boy's tone was pained but surly.

"He means other demons," said the dark-haired boy, speaking for the first time. "You do know what a demon is, don't you?"

The boy tied to the pillar turned his face away, his mouth working.

"Demons," drawled the blonde boy, tracing the word on the air with his finger. "Religiously defined as hell's denizens, the servants of Satan, but understood here, for the purposes of the Clave, to be any malevolent spirit whose origin is outside our own home dimension–"

"That's enough, Ryan," said the girl.

"Gabriella's right," agreed the taller boy. "Nobody here needs a lesson in semantics–or demonology."

_They're crazy, _Sharpay thought. _Actually crazy._

Ryan raised his head and smiled. There was something fierce about the gesture, something that reminded Sharpay of documentaries she'd watched about lions on the Discovery Channel, the way the big cats would raise their heads and sniff the air for prey. "Gabriella and Jason think I talk too much," he said, confidingly. "Do _you_ think I talk too much?"

The blue-haired boy didn't reply. His mouth was still working. "I could give you information," he said. "I know where Valentine is."

Ryan glanced back at Jason, who shrugged. "Valentine's in the ground," Ryan said. "The thing's just toying with us."

Gabriella tossed her hair. "Kill it, Ryan," she said. "It's not going to tell us anything."

Ryan raised his hand, and Sharpay saw dim light spark off the knife he was holding. It was oddly translucent, the blade clear as crystal, sharp as a shard of glass, the hilt set with red stones.

The bound boy gasped. "Valentine is back!" he protested, dragging at the bonds that held his hands behind his back. "All the Infernal Worlds know it–I know it–I can tell you where he is–"

Rage flared suddenly in Ryan's icy eyes. "By the Angel, every time we capture one of you bastards, you claim you know where Valentine is. Well, we know where he is too. He's in hell. And you–" Ryan turned the knife in his grasp, the edge sparking like a line of fire. "You can _join him there_."

Sharpay could take no more. She stepped out from behind the pillar. "Stop!" she cried. "You can't do this."

Ryan whirled, so startled that the knife flew from his hand and clattered against the concrete floor. Gabriella and Jason turned along with him, wearing identical expressions of astonishment. The blue-haired boy hung in his bonds, stunned and gaping.

It was Jason who spoke first. "What's this?" he demanded, looking from Sharpay to his companions, as if they might know what she was doing there.

"It's a girl," Ryan said, recovering his composure. "Surely you've seen girls before, Jason. Your sister Gabriella is one." He took a step closer to Sharpay, squinting as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. "A mundie girl," he said, half to himself. "And she can see us."

"Of course I can see you," Sharpay said. "I'm not blind, you know."

"Oh, but you are," Ryan said, bending to pick up his knife. "You just don't know it." He straightened up. "You'd better get out of here, if you know what's good for you."

"I'm not going anywhere," Sharpay said. "If I do, you'll kill him." She pointed at the boy with the blue hair.

"That's true," admitted Ryan, twirling the knife between his fingers. "What do you care if I kill him or not?"

"Be-because–" Sharpay spluttered. "You can't just go around killing people."

"You're right," said Ryan. "You can't go around killing _people._" He pointed at the boy with blue hair, whose eyes were slitted. Sharpay wondered if he'd fainted. "That's not a person, little girl. It may look like a person and talk like a person and maybe even bleed like a person. But it's a monster."

"_Ryan_," said Gabriella warningly. "That's enough."

"You're crazy," Sharpay said, backing away from him. "I've called the police, you know. They'll be here any second."

"She's lying," said Jason, but there was doubt on his face. "Ryan, do you–"

He never got to finish his sentence. At that moment the blue-haired boy, with a high, yowling cry, tore free of the restraints binding him to the pillar, and flung himself on Ryan.

They fell to the ground and rolled together, the blue-haired boy tearing at Ryan with hands that glittered as if tipped with metal. Sharpay backed up, wanting to run, but her feet caught on a loop of wiring and she went down, knocking the breath out of her chest. She could hear Gabriella shrieking. Rolling over, Sharpay saw the blue-haired boy sitting on Ryan's chest. Blood gleamed at the tips of his razor like claws.

Gabriella and Jason were running toward them, Gabriella brandishing a whip in her hand. The blue-haired boy slashed at Ryan with claws extended. Ryan threw an arm up to protect himself, and the claws raked it, splattering blood. The blue-haired boy lunged again–and Gabriella's whip came down across his back. He shrieked and fell to the side.

Swift as a flick of Gabriella's whip, Ryan rolled over. There was a blade gleaming in his hand. He sank the knife into the blue-haired boy's chest. Blackish liquid exploded around the hilt. The boy arched off the floor, gurgling and twisting. With a grimace, Ryan stood up. His black shirt was blacker now in some places, wet with blood. He looked down at the twitching form at his feet, reached down, and yanked out the knife. The hilt was slick with black fluid.

The blue-haired boy's eyes flickered open. His eyes, fixed on Ryan, seemed to burn. Between his teeth, he hissed, "_So be it. The Forsaken will take you all._"

Ryan seemed to snarl. The boy's eyes rolled back. His body began to jerk and switch as he crumpled, folding in on himself, growing smaller and smaller until he vanished entirely.

Sharpay scrambled to her feet, kicking free of the electrical wiring. She began to back away. None of them was paying attention to her. Jason had reached Ryan and was holding his arm, pulling at the sleeve, probably trying to get a good look at the wound. Sharpay turned to run–and found her way blocked by Gabriella, whip in hand. The gold length of it was stained with dark fluid. She flicked it toward Sharpay, and the end wrapped itself around her wrist and jerked tight. Sharpay gasped with pain and surprise.

"You stupid little mundie," Gabriella said between her teeth. "You could have gotten Ryan killed."

"He's crazy," Sharpay said, trying to pull her wrist back. The whip bit deeper into her skin. "You're all crazy. What do you think you are, vigilante killers? The police–"

"The police aren't usually interested unless you can produce a body," said Ryan. Cradling his arm, he picked his way across the cable-strewn floor toward Sharpay. Jason followed behind him, face screwed into a scowl.

Sharpay glanced at the spot where the boy had disappeared from, and said nothing. There wasn't even a smear of blood there–nothing to show that the boy had ever existed.

"They return to their home dimensions when they die," Ryan said. "In case you were wondering."

"Ryan," Jason hissed. "Be careful."

Ryan drew his arm away. A ghoulish freckling of blood marked his face. He still reminded her of a lion, with his wide-spaced, light-colored eyes, and that tawny gold hair. "She can see us, Jason," he said. "She already knows too much."

"So what do you want me to do with her?" Gabriella demanded.

"Let her go," Ryan said quietly. Gabriella shot him a surprised, almost angry look, but didn't argue. The whip slithered away, freeing Sharpay's arm. She rubbed her sore wrist and wondered how the hell she was going to get out of there.

"Maybe we should bring her back with us," Jason said. "I bet Hodge would like to talk to her."

"No way are we bringing her to the Institute," said Gabriella. "She's a _mundie._"

"Or is she?" said Ryan softly. His quiet tone was worse than Gabriella's snapping or Jason's anger. "Have you had dealings with demons, little girl? Walked with warlocks, talked with the Night Children? Have you–"

"My name is not 'little girl,'" Sharpay interrupted. "And I have no idea what you're talking about." _Don't you? _Said a voice in the back of her head. _You saw that boy vanish into thin air. Ryan isn't crazy–you just wish he was._ "I don't' believe in–in demons, or whatever you–"

"Shar?" It was Troy's voice. She whirled around. He was standing by the storage room door. One of the burly bouncers who'd been stamping hands at the front door was next to him. "Are you okay?" He peered at her through the gloom. "Why are you in here by yourself? What happened to the guys–you know the ones with the knives?"

Sharpay stared at him, then looked behind her, where Ryan, Gabriella, and Jason stood, Ryan still in his bloody shirt with the knife in his hand. He grinned at her and dropped a half-apologetic, half-mocking shrug. Clearly he wasn't surprised that neither Troy nor the bouncer could see them.

Somehow neither was Sharpay. Slowly she turned back to Troy, knowing how she must look to him, standing alone in a damp storage room, her feet tangled in bright plastic wiring cables. "I thought they went in here," she said lamely. "But I guess they didn't. I'm sorry." She glanced from Troy, whose expression was changing from worried to embarrassed, to the bouncer, who just looked annoyed. "It was a mistake."

Behind her, Gabriella giggled.

* * *

><p>"I don't believe it," Troy said stubbornly as Sharpay, standing at the curb, tried desperately to hail a cab. Street cleaners had come down Orchard while they were inside the club, and the street was glossed black with oily water.<p>

"I know," she agreed. "You'd think there'd be _some_ cabs. Where is everyone going at midnight on a Sunday?" She turned back to him, shrugging. "You think we'd have better luck on Houston?"

"Not the cabs," Troy said. "You–I don't believe you. I don't believe those guys with the knives just disappeared."

Sharpay sighed. "Maybe there weren't' any guys with knives, Troy. Maybe I just imagined the whole thing."

"No way." Troy raised his hand over his head, but the oncoming taxis whizzed by him, spraying dirty water. "I saw your face when I came into that storage room. You looked seriously freaked out, like you'd seen a ghost."

Sharpay thought of Ryan with his lion-cat eyes. She glanced down at her wrist, braceleted by a thin red line where Gabriella's whip had curled. _No, not a ghost,_ she thought. _Something even weirder than that._

"It was just a mistake," she said wearily. She wondered why she wasn't telling him the truth. Except, of course, that he'd think she was crazy. And there was something about what had happened–something about the black blood bubbling up around Ryan's knife, something about his voice when he'd said _Have you talked with the Night Children? _That she wanted to keep to herself.

"Well, it was a hell of an embarrassing mistake," Troy said. He glanced back at the club, where a thin line still snaked out the door and halfway down the block. "I doubt they'll ever let us back into Pandemonium."

"What do you care? You hate Pandemonium." Sharpay raised her hand again as a yellow shape sped toward them through the fog. This time, though, the taxi screeched to a halt at their corner, the driving laying into his horn as if he needed to get their attention.

"Finally we get lucky." Troy yanked the taxi door open and slid onto the plastic-covered backseat. Sharpay followed, inhaling the familiar New York cab smell of old cigarette smoke, leather, and hair spray. "We're going to Brooklyn," Troy said to the cabbie, and then he turned to Sharpay. "Look, you know you can tell me anything, right?"

Sharpay hesitated a moment, then nodded. "Sure, Troy," she said. "I know I can."

She slammed the cab door shut behind her, and the taxi took off into the night.


	2. Secrets and Lies

**SECRETS AND LIES**

_The dark prince sat astride his black steed, his sable cap flowing behind him. A golden circlet bound his blonde locks, his handsome face was cold with the rage of battle, and…_

"And his arm looked like an eggplant," Sharpay muttered to herself in exasperation. The drawing just wasn't working. With a sigh she tore yet another sheet from her sketchpad, crumpled it up, and tossed it against the orange wall of her bedroom. Already the floor was littered with discarded balls of paper, a sure sign that her creative juices weren't flowing the way she'd hoped. She wished for the thousandth time that she could be a bit more like her mother. Everything Jocelyn Evans drew, painted, or sketched was beautiful, and seemingly effortless.

Sharpay pulled her headphones out–cutting off Stepping Razor in midsong–and rubbed her aching temples. It was only then that she became aware that the loud, piercing sound of a ringing telephone was echoing through the apartment. Tossing the sketchpad onto the bed, she jumped to her feet and ran into the living room, where the retro-red phone sat on a table near the front door.

"Is this Sharpay Felicity Evans?" The voice on the other end of the phone sounded familiar, though not immediately identifiable.

Sharpay twirled the phone cord nervously around her finger. "Yeees?"

"Hi, I'm one of the knife-carrying hooligans you met last night in Pandemonium? I'm afraid I made a bad impression and was hoping you'd give me a chance to make it up to–"

"TROY DEXTER BOLTON!" Sharpay held the phone away from her ear as he cracked up laughing. "That is so not funny!"

"Sure it is. You just don't see the humor."

"Jerk." Sharpay sighed, leaning up against the wall. "You wouldn't be laughing if you'd been here when I got home last night."

"Why not?"

"My mom. She wasn't happy that we were late. She freaked out. It was messy."

"What? It's not our fault there was traffic!" Troy protested. He was the youngest of two children and had a finely honed sense of familial injustice.

"Yeah, well, she doesn't see it that way. I disappointed her, I let her down, I made her worry, blah blah blah. I am the _bane_ of her _existence_," Sharpay said, mimicking her mother's precise phrasing with only a slight twinge of guilt.

"So, are you grounded?" Troy asked, a little too loudly. Sharpay could hear a low rumble of voices behind him; people talking over each other.

"I don't know yet," she said. "My mom went out this morning with Luke, and they're not back yet. Where are you, anyway? Chad's?"

"Yeah. We just finished up practice." A cymbal clashed behind Troy. Sharpay winced. "Chad's doing a poetry reading over at Java Jones tonight," Troy went on, naming a coffee shop around the corner from Sharpay's that sometimes had live music at night. "The whole band's going to go to show their support. Want to come?"

"Yeah, all right." Sharpay paused, tugging on the phone cord anxiously. "Wait, no."

"Shut up, guys, will you?" Troy yelled, the faintness of his voice making Sharpay suspect that he was holding the phone away from his mouth. He was back a second later, sounding troubled. "Was that a yes or a no?"

"I don't know." Sharpay bit her lip. "My mom's still mad at me about last night. I'm not sure I want to piss her off by asking for any favors. If I'm going to get in trouble, I don't want it to be on account of Chad's lousy poetry."

"Come on, it's not so bad," Troy said. Chad was his next-door neighbor, and the two had known each other most of their lives. They weren't close the way Troy and Sharpay were, but they had formed a rock band together at the start of sophomore year, along with Chad's friends Jimmy and Donny. They practiced together faithfully in Chad's parents' garage every week. "Besides, it's not a favor," Troy added, "it's a poetry slam around the block from your house. It's not like I'm inviting you to some orgy in Hoboken. Your mom can come along if she wants."

"ORGY IN HOBOKEN!" Sharpay heard someone, probably Chad, yell. Another cymbal crashed. She imagined her mother listening to Chad read his poetry, and she shuddered inwardly.

"I don't know. If all of you show up here, I think she'll freak."

"Then I'll come alone. I'll pick you up and we can walk over there together, meet the rest of them there. Your mom won't mind. She loves me."

Sharpay had to laugh. "Sign of her questionable taste, if you ask me."

"Nobody did." Troy clicked off, amid shouts from his band mates.

Sharpay hung up the phone and glanced around the living room. Evidence of her mother's artistic tendencies was everywhere, from the handmade velvet throw pillows piled on the dark red sofa to the walls hung with Jocelyn's paintings, carefully framed–landscapes, mostly: the winding streets of downtown Manhattan lit with golden light; scenes of Prospect Park in winder, the gray ponds edged with lacelike films of white ice.

On the mantel over the fireplace was a framed photo of Sharpay's father. A thoughtful-looking fair man in military dress, his eyes bore the telltale traces of laugh lines at the corners. He'd been a decorated soldier serving overseas. Jocelyn had some of his medals in a small box by her bed. Not that the medals had dome anyone any good when Jonathan Clark had crashed his car into a tree just outside Albany and died before his daughter was even born.

Jocelyn had gone back to using her maiden name after he died. She never talked about Sharpay's father, but she kept the box engraved with his initials, J.C., next to her bed. Along with the medals were one or two photos, a wedding ring, and a single lock of blonde hair. Sometimes Jocelyn took the box out and opened it and held the lock of hair very gently in her hands before putting it back and carefully locking the box up again.

The sound of the key turning in the front door roused Sharpay out of her reverie. Hastily she threw herself down on the couch and tried to look as if she were immersed in one of the paperbacks her mother had left stacked on the end table. Jocelyn recognized reading as a sacred pastime and usually wouldn't interrupt Sharpay in the middle of a book, even to yell at her.

The door opened with a thumb. It was Jack, his arms full of what looked like big square pieces of pasteboard. When he set them down, Sharpay saw that they were cardboard boxes, folded flat. He straightened up and turned to her with a smile.

"Hey, Un–hey, Jack," she said. He'd asked her to stop calling him Uncle Jack about a year ago, claiming that it made him feel old, and anyway reminded him of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Besides, he'd reminded her gently, he wasn't really her uncle, just a close friend of her mother's who'd known her all her life. "Where's Mom?"

"Parking the truck," he said, straightening his lanky frame with a groan. He was dressed in his usual uniform: old jeans, a flannel shirt, and a bend pair of gold-rimmed spectacles that sat askew on the bridge of his nose. "Remind me again why this building has no service elevator?"

"Because it's old, and has _character_," Sharpay said immediately. Jack grinned. "What are the boxes for?" she asked.

His grin vanished. "Your mother wanted to pack up some things," he said, avoiding her gaze.

"What things?" Sharpay asked.

He gave an airy wave. "Extra stuff lying around the house. Getting in the way. You now she never throws anything out. So what are you up to? Studying?" He plucked the book out of her hand and read out loud: "_The world still teems with those motley being whom a more sober philosophy has discarded. Fairies and goblins, ghosts and demons, still hover about–_" He lowered the book and looked at her over his glasses. "Is this for school?"

"_The Golden Bough_? No. School's not for a few weeks." Sharpay took the book back from him. "It's my mom's."

"I had a feeling."

She dropped it back on the table. "Jack?"

"Uh huh?" The book already forgotten, he was rummaging in the tool kit next to the hearth. "Ah, here it is." He pulled out an orange plastic tape gun and gazed at it with deep satisfaction.

"What would you do if you saw something nobody else could see?"

The tape gun fell out of Jack's hand, and hit the tiled hearth. He knelt to pick it up, not looking at her. "You mean if I were the only one to witness a crime, that sort of thing?"

"No. I mean, if there were other people around, but you were the only one who could see something. As if it were invisible to everyone but you."

He hesitated, still kneeling, the dented tape gun gripped in his hand.

"I know it sounds crazy," Sharpay ventured nervously, "but…"

He turned around. His eyes, very blue behind the glasses, rested on her with a look of firm affection. "Shar, you're an artist, like your mother. That means you see the world in ways that other people don't. It's your gift, to see the beauty and the horror in ordinary things. It doesn't make you crazy–just different. There's nothing wrong with being different."

Sharpay pulled her legs up, and rested her chin on her knees. In her mind's eye she saw the storage room, Gabriella's gold whip, the blue-haired boy convulsing in his death spasms, and Ryan's tawny eyes. _Beauty and horror. _She said, "If my dad had lived, do you think he'd have been an artist too?"

Jack looked taken aback. Before he could answer her, the door swung open and Sharpay's mother stalked into the room, her boot heels clacking on the polished wooden floor. She handed Jack a set of jingling car keys and turned to look at her daughter.

Jocelyn Evans was a slim, compact woman, her hair a few shades darker than Sharpay's and twice as long. At the moment it was twisted up in a dark red knot, stuck through with a graphite pen to hold it in place. She wore paint-spattered overalls over a lavender T-shirt, and brown hiking boots whose soles were caked with oil paint.

People always told Sharpay that she looked like her mother, but she couldn't see it herself. The only thing that was similar about them was their figures: They were both slender, with decent sized chests and curvy hips. She knew she wasn't beautiful like her mother was. To be beautiful you had to be willowy and tall. When you were as short as Sharpay was, just an inch over five feet, you were cute. Not pretty or beautiful, but cute. Throw in platinum hair and a mouth full of Invisalign braces, and she was Leann Rimes to her mother's Barbie doll.

Jocelyn even had a graceful way of walking that made people turn their heads to watch her go by. Sharpay, by contrast, was always tripping over her feet. The only time people turned to watch her go by was when she hurtled past them as she fell downstairs.

"Thanks for bringing the boxes up," Sharpay's mother said to Jack, and smiled at him. He didn't return the smile. Sharpay's stomach did an uneasy flip. Clearly there was something going on. "Sorry it took me so long to find a space. There must be a million people at the part today–"

"Mom?" Sharpay interrupted. "What are the boxes for?"

Jocelyn bit her lip. Jack flicked his eyes toward Sharpay, mutely urging Jocelyn forward. With a nervous twitch of her wrist, Jocelyn pushed a dangling lock of hair behind her ear and went to join her daughter on the couch.

Up close Sharpay could see how tired her mother looked. There were dark half-moons under her eyes, and her lids were pearly with sleeplessness.

"Is this about last night?" Sharpay asked.

"No," her mother said quickly, and then hesitated. "Maybe a little. You shouldn't have done what you did last night. You know better."

"And I already apologized. What is this about? If you're grounding me, get it over with."

"I'm not," said her mother, "ground you." Her voice was as taut as a wire. She glanced at Jack, who shook his head.

"Just tell her, Jocelyn," he said.

"Could you not talk about me like I'm not here?" Sharpay said angrily. "And what do you mean, tell me? Tell me what?"

Jocelyn expelled a sigh. "We're going on vacation."

Jack's expression went blank, like a canvass wiped clean of paint.

Sharpay shook her head. "That's what this is about? You're going on vacation?" She sank back against the cushions. "I don't get it. Why the big production?"

"I don't think you understand. I meant we're all going on vacation. The three of us–you, me, and Jack. We're going to the farmhouse."

"Oh." Sharpay glanced at Jack, but he had his arms crossed over his chest and was staring out the window, his jaw pulled tight. She wondered what was upsetting him. He loved the old farmhouse in upstate New York–he'd bought and restored it himself ten years before, and he went there whenever he could. "For how long?"

"For the rest of the summer," said Jocelyn. "I brought the boxes in case you want to pack up any books, painting supplies–"

"For the _rest of the summer_?" Sharpay sat upright with indignation. "I can't do that, Mom. I have plans–Troy and I were going to have a back-to-school party, and I've got a bunch of meetings with my art group, and ten more classes at Tisch–"

"I'm sorry about Tisch. But the other things can be canceled. Troy will understand, and so will your art group."

"Sharpay heard the implacability in her mother's tone and realized she was serious. "But I paid for those art classes! I saved up all year! You promised." She whirled, turning to Jack. "Tell her! Tell her it isn't fair!"

Jack didn't look away from the window, though a muscle jumped in his cheek. "She's your mother. It's her decision to make."

"I don't get it." Sharpay turned back to her mother. "Why?"

"I have to get a way, Felicity," Jocelyn said, the corners of her mouth trembling. "I need the peace, the quiet, to paint. And money is tight right now–"

"So sell some more of Dad's stocks," Sharpay said angrily. "That's what you usually do, isn't it?"

Jocelyn recoiled. "That's hardly fair."

"Look, go if you want to go. I don't care. I'll stay here without you. I can work; I can get a job at Starbucks or something. Troy said they're always hiring. I'm old enough to take care of myself–"

"No!" The sharpness in Jocelyn's voice made Sharpay jump. "I'll pay you back for the art classes, Felicity. But you are coming with us. It isn't optional. You're too young to stay here on your own. Something could happen."

"Like what? What could happen?" Sharpay demanded.

There was a crash. She turned in surprise to find that Jack had knocked over one of the framed pictures leaning against the wall. Looking distinctly upset, he set it back. When he straightened, his mouth was set in a grim line. "I'm leaving."

Jocelyn bit her lip. "Wait." She hurried after him into the entryway, catching up just as he seized the doorknob. Twisting around on the sofa, Sharpay could just overhear her mother's urgent whisper. "…Bane," Jocelyn was saying. "I've been calling him and calling him for the past three weeks. His voice mail says he's in Tanzania. What am I supposed to do?"

"Jocelyn." Jack shook his head. "You can't keep going to him forever."

"But Sharpay–"

"Isn't Jonathan," Jack hissed. "You've never been the same since it happened, but Shar _isn't Jonathan_."

_What does my father have to do with this?_ Sharpay thought, bewildered.

"I can't just keep her at home, not let her go out. She won't put up with it."

"Of course she won't!" Jack sounded really angry. "She's not a pet, she's a teenager. Almost an adult."

"If we were out of the city…"

"Talk to her, Jocelyn." Jack's voice was firm. "I mean it." He reached for the doorknob.

The door flew open. Jocelyn gave a little scream.

"Jesus!" Jack exclaimed.

"Actually, it's just me," said Troy. "Although I've been told the resemblance is startling." He waved at Sharpay from the doorway. "You ready?"

Jocelyn took her hand away from her mouth. "Troy, were you eavesdropping?"

Troy blinked. "No, I just got here." He looked from Jocelyn's pale face to Jack's grim one. "Is something wrong? Should I go?"

"Don't bother," Jack said. "I think we're done here." He pushed past Troy, thudding down the stairs at a rapid pace. Downstairs, the front door slammed shut.

Troy hovered in the doorway, looking uncertain. "I can come back later," he said. "Really. It wouldn't be a problem."

"That might–" Jocelyn began, but Sharpay was already on her feet.

"Forget it, Troy. We're leaving," she said, grabbing her messenger bag from a hook near the door. She slung it over her shoulder, glaring at her mother. "See you later, Mom."

Jocelyn bit her lip. "Felicity, don't you think we should talk about this?"

"We'll have plenty of time to talk while we're on 'vacation,'" Sharpay said venomously, and had the satisfaction of seeing her mother flinch. "Don't wait up," she added, ad, grabbing Troy's arm, she half-dragged him out the front door.

He dug his heels in, looking apologetically over her should at Sharpay's mother, who stood small and forlorn in the entryway, her hands knitted tightly together. "Bye, Miss Evans!" he called. "Have a nice evening!"

"Oh, shut _up_, Troy," Sharpay snapped and slammed the door behind them, cutting off her mother's reply.

* * *

><p>"Jesus, woman, don't rip my arm off," Troy protested as Sharpay hauled him downstairs after her, her green Sketchers slapping against the wooden stairs with every angry step. She glanced up, half-expecting to see her mother glaring down from the landing, but the apartment door stayed shut.<p>

"Sorry," Sharpay muttered, letting go of his wrist. She paused at the foot of the stairs, her messenger bag banging against her hip.

Sharpay's brownstone, like most in Park Slope, had once been the single residence of a wealthy family. Shades of its former grandeur were still evident in the curving staircase, the chipped marble entryway floor, and the wide single-paned skylight overhead. Now the house was split into separate apartments, and Sharpay and her mother shared the three-floor building with a downstairs tenant, an elderly woman who ran a psychic's shop out of her apartment. She hardly ever came out of it, though customer visits were infrequent. A gold plaque fixed to the door proclaimed her to be 'MADAME DOROTHEA, SEERESS AND PROPHETESS'.

The thick sweet scent of incense spilled from the half-open door into the foyer. Sharpay could hear a low murmur of voices.

"Nice to see she's doing a booming business," Troy said. "It's hard to get steady prophet work these days."

"Do you have to be sarcastic about everything?" Sharpay snapped.

Troy blinked, clearly taken aback. "I thought you liked it when I was witty and ironic."

Sharpay was about to reply when the door to Madame Dorothea's swung fully open and a man stepped out. He was tall, with maple-syrup colored skin, gold-green eyes like a cat's, and tangled black hair. He grinned at her blindingly, showing sharp white teeth.

A wave of dizziness came over her, the strong sensation that she was going to faint.

Troy glanced at her uneasily. "Are you all right? You look like you're going to pass out."

She blinded at him. "What? No, I'm fine."

He didn't seem to want to let it drop. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

She shook her head. The memory of having seen something teased her, but when she tried to concentrate, it slid away like water. "Nothing. I though I saw Dorothea's cat, but I guess it was just a trick of the light." Troy stared at her. "I haven't eaten anything since yesterday," she added defensively. "I guess I'm a little out of it."

He slid a comforting arm around her shoulders. "Come on, I'll buy you some food."

* * *

><p>"I just can't believe she's being like this," Sharpay said for the fourth time, chasing a stray bit of guacamole around her plate with the tip of a nacho. They were at a neighborhood Mexican joint, a hole in the wall called Nacho Mama. "Like grounding me every other week wasn't bad enough. Now I'm going to be exiled for the rest of the summer."<p>

"Well, you know, your mom gets like this sometimes," Troy said. "Like when she breathes in or out." He grinned at her around it veggie burrito.

"Oh, sure, act like it's funny," she said. "_You're_ not the one getting dragged off to the middle of nowhere for God knows how long–"

"_Sharpay_." Troy interrupted her tirade. "I'm not the one you're mad at. Besides, it isn't going to be permanent."

"How do you know that?"

"Well, because I know your mom," Troy said, after a pause. "I mean, you and I have been friends for what, ten years now? I know she gets like this sometimes. She'll think better of it."

Sharpay picked a hot pepper off her plate and nibbled the edge meditatively. "Do you, though?" she said. "Know her, I mean? I sometimes wonder if anyone does."

Troy blinked at her. "You lost me there."

Sharpay sucked in air to cool her burning mouth. "I mean, she never talks about herself. I don't know anything about her early life, or her family, or much about how she met my dad. She doesn't even have wedding photos. It's like her life started when she had me. That's what she always says when I ask her about it."

"Aw." Troy made a face at her. "That's sweet."

"No, it isn't. It's weird. It's weird that I don't know anything about my grandparents. I mean, I know my dad's parents weren't very nice to her, but could they have been _that_ bad? What kind of people don't want to even meet their granddaughter?"

"Maybe she hates them. Maybe they were abusive or something," Troy suggested. "She does have those scars."

Sharpay stared at him. "She has what?"

He swallowed a mouthful of burrito. "Those little thin scars. All over her back and arms. I _have_ seen your mother in a bathing suit, you know."

"I never noticed any scars," Sharpay said decidedly. "I think you're imagining things."

He stared at her, and seemed to say something when her cell phone, buried in her messenger bag, began an insistent blaring. Sharpay fished it out, gazed at the numbers blinking on the screen, and scowled. "It's my mom."

"I could tell by the look on your face. You going to talk to her?"

"Not right now," Sharpay said, feeling the familiar bite of guilt in her stomach as the phone stopped ringing and voice mail picked up. "I don't want to fight with her."

"You can always stay at my house," Troy said. "For as long as you want."

"Well, we'll see if she calms down first." Sharpay punched the voice mail button on her phone. Her mother's voice sounded tense, but she was clearly trying for lightness: "Baby, I'm sorry if I sprang the vacation plan on you. Come on home and we'll talk." Sharpay hung the phone up before the message ended, feeling even guiltier and still angry at the same time. "She wants to talk about it."

"Do you want to talk to her?"

"I don't know." Sharpay rubbed the back of her hand across her eyes. "Are you still going to the poetry reading?"

"I promised I would."

Sharpay stood up, pushing her chair back. "Then I'll go with you. I'll call her when it's over." The strap of her messenger bad slid down her arm. Troy pushed it back up absently, his fingers lingering at the bare skin of her shoulder.

* * *

><p>The air outside was spongy with moisture, the humidity frizzing Sharpay's hair and sticking Troy's blue T-shirt to his back. "So, what's up with the band?" she asked. "Anything new? There was a lot of yelling in the background when I talked to you earlier."<p>

Troy's face lit up. "Things are great," he said. "Jimmy says he knows someone who could get us a gig at the Scrap Bar. We're talking about names again too."

"Oh, yeah?" Sharpay his a smile. Troy's band never actually produced any music. Mostly they sat around in Troy's living room, fighting about potential names and band logos. She sometimes wondered if any of them could actually play an instrument. "What's on the table?"

"We're choosing between Sea Vegetable Conspiracy and Rock Solid Panda."

Sharpay shook her head. "Those are both terrible."

"Chad suggested Lawn Chair Crisis."

"Maybe Chad should stick to gaming."

"But then we'd have to find a new drummer."

"Oh, is _that_ what Chad does? I thought he just mooched money off you and went around telling girls at school that he was in a band in order to impress them."

"Not at all," Troy said breezily. "Chad has turned over a new leaf. He has a girlfriend. They're been going out for three months."

"Practically married," Sharpay said, stepping around a couple pushing a toddler in a stroller: a little girl with yellow plastic clips in her hair who was clutching a pixie doll with gold-streaked sapphire wings. Out of the corner of her eye Sharpay thought she saw the wings flutter. She turned her head hastily.

"Which means," Troy continued, "that I am the last member of the band _not_ to have a girlfriend. Which, you know, is the whole point of being in a band. To get girls."

"I thought it was all about the music." A man with a cane cut across her path, heading for Berkeley Street. She glanced away, afraid that if she looked at anyone for too long they would sprout wings, extra arms, or long forked tongues like snakes. "Who cares if you have a girlfriend, anyway?"

"I care," Troy said gloomily. "Pretty soon the only people left without a girlfriend will be me and Wendell the school janitor. And he smells like Windex."

"At least you know he's still available. And clean."

Troy glared. "Not funny, Evans."

"There's always Taylor 'The Thong' Mckessie," Sharpay suggested. Sharpay had sat behind her in math class in ninth grade. Every time Sheila dropped her pencil–which had been often–Sharpay had been treated to the sight of Sheila's underwear riding up above the waistband of her super-low-rise jeans.

"That's _is_ who Chad's been dating for the past three months," Troy said. "His advice, meanwhile, was that I ought to just decide which girl in school had the most rockin' bod and ask her out on the first day of classes."

"Chad is a sexist pig," Sharpay said, suddenly not wanting to know which girl in school Troy thought had the most rockin' bod. "Maybe you should call the band The Sexist Pigs."

"It has a ring to it." Troy seemed unfazed. Sharpay made a face at him, her messenger bag vibrating as her phone blared. She fished it out of the zip pocket. "Is it your mom again?" he asked.

Sharpy nodded. She could see her mother in her mind's eye, small and alone in the doorway of their apartment. Guilt unfurled in her chest.

She glanced up at Troy, who was looking at her, his eyes dark with concern. His face was so familiar she could have traced its lines in her sleep. She thought of the lonely weeks that stretched ahead without him, and shoved the phone back into her bag. "Come on," she said. "We're going to be late for the show."


	3. Shadowhunter

**SHADOW HUNTER**

By the time they got to Java Jones, Chad was already on stage, swaying back and forth in front of the microphone with his eyes squinched shut. He'd dyed the tips of his hair pink for the occasion. Behind him, Jimmy, looking stoned, was beating irregularly on a djembe.

"This is going to suck so hard," Sharpay predicted. She grabbed Troy's sleeve and tugged him toward the doorway. "If we make a run for it, we can still get away."

He shook his head determinedly. "I'm nothing if not a man of my word." He squared his shoulders. "I'll get the coffee if you find us a seat. What do you want?"

"Just coffee. Black–_like my soul_."

Troy headed off toward the coffee bar, muttering under his breath something to the effect that it was a far, far better thing he did now than he had ever done before. Sharpay went to find them a seat.

The coffee shop was crowded for a Monday; most of the threadbare-looking couches and armchairs were taken up with teenagers enjoying a free weeknight. The smell of coffee and clove cigarettes was overwhelming. Finally Sharpay found an unoccupied love seat in a darkened corner toward the back. The only other person nearby was a blonde girl in an orange tank top, absorbed in playing with her iPod. _Good_, Sharpay thought, _Chad won't be able to find us back here after the show to ask how his poetry was._

The blonde girl leaned over the side of her chair and tapped Sharpay on the shoulder. "Excuse me." Sharpay looked up in surprise. "Is that your boyfriend?" the girl asked.

Sharpay followed the line of the girl's gaze already prepared to say, _No, I don't know him,_ when she realized the girl meant Troy. He was headed toward them, face scrunched up in concentration as he tried not to drop either of his Styrofoam cups. "Uh, no," Sharpay said. "He's a friend of mine."

The girl beamed. "He's _cute_. Does he have a girlfriend?"

Sharpay hesitated a second too long before replying. "No."

The girl looked suspicious. "Is he gay?"

Sharpay was spared responding to this by Troy's return. The blonde girl sat back hastily as he set the cups on the table and threw himself down next to Sharpay. "I hate it when they run out of mugs. Those things are hot." He blew on his fingers and scowled. Sharpay tried to hide a smile as she watched him. Normally she never thought about whether Troy was good-looking or not. He had pretty dark eyes, she supposed, and he'd filled out well over the past year or so. With the right haircut–

"You're staring at me," Troy said. "Why are you staring at me? Do I have something on my face?"

_I should tell him,_ she thought, though some part of her was strangely reluctant. _I'd be a bad friend if I didn't. _"Don't look now, but that blonde girl over there thinks you're cute," she whispered.

Troy's eyes flicked sideways to stare at the girl, who was industriously studying an issue of _Shonen Jump_. "The girl in the orange top?" Sharpay nodded. Troy looked dubious. "What makes you think so?"

_Tell him. Go on, tell him. _Sharpay opened her mouth to reply, and was interrupted by a burst of feedback. She winced and covered her ears as Chad, on stage, wrestled with his microphone.

"Sorry about that, guys!" he yelled. "All right. I'm Chad, and this is my homeboy Jimmy on the drums. My first poem is called 'Untitled.'" He screwed up his face as if in pain, and wailed into the mike. "_Come, my faux juggernaut, my nefarious loins! Slather ever protuberance with arid zeal!_"

Troy slid down in his seat. "Please don't tell anyone I know him."

Sharpay giggled. "Who uses the word 'loins'?"

"Chad," Troy said grimly. "All his poems have loins in them."

"_Turgid is my torment!_" Chad wailed. "_Agony swells within!_"

"You bet it does," Sharpay said. She slid down in the seat next to Troy. "Anyway, about that girl who thinks you're cute–"

"Never mind that for a second," Troy said. Sharpay blinked at him in surprise. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Furious Mole is not a good name for a band," Sharpay said immediately.

"Not that," Troy said. "It's about what we were talking about before. About me not having a girlfriend."

"Oh." Sharpay lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "Oh, I don't know. Ask Kelsi Nielsen out," she suggested, naming one of the few girls at St. Xavier's she actually liked. "She's nice, and she likes you."

"I don't want to ask Kelsi Nielsen out."

"Why not?" Sharpay found herself seized with a sudden unspecific resentment. "You don't like smart girls? Still seeking a _rockin' bod_?"

"Neither," said Troy, who seemed agitated. "I don't want to ask her out because it wouldn't really be fair to her if I did…"

He trailed off. Sharpay leaned forward. From the corner of her eye she could see the blonde girl leaning forward too, plainly eavesdropping. "Why not?"

"Because I like someone else," Troy said.

"Okay." Troy looked faintly greenish, the way he had once he'd broken his ankle playing soccer in the park and had to limp home on it. She wondered what on earth about liking someone could possibly have him wound up to such a pitch of anxiety. "You're not gay, are you?"

Troy's greenish color deepened. "If I were, I would dress better."

"So, who is it, then?" Sharpay asked. She was about to add that if he were in love with Taylor Mckessie, Chad would kick his ass, when she heard someone couch loudly behind her. It was a derisive sort of cough, the kind of noise someone might make who was trying not to laugh out loud.

She turned around.

Sitting on a faded green sofa a few feet away from her was Ryan. He was wearing the same dark clothes he'd had on the night before in the club. His arms were bare and covered with faint white lines like old scars. His wrists bore wide metal cuffs; she could see the bone handle of a knife protruding from the left one. He was looking right at her, the side of his narrow mouth quirked in amusement. Worse than the feeling of being laughed at was Sharpay's absolute conviction that he hadn't been sitting there five minutes ago.

"What is it?" Troy had followed her gaze, but it was obvious from the blank expression on his face that he couldn't see Ryan.

_But I see you_. She stared at Ryan as she thought it, and he raised his left hand to wave at her. A ring glittered on a slim finger. He got to his feet and began walking, unhurriedly, toward the door. Sharpay's lips parted in surprise. He was leaving, just like that.

She felt Troy's hand on her arm. He was saying her name, asking her if something was wrong. She barely heard him. "I'll be right back," she heard herself say, as she sprang off the couch, almost forgetting to set her coffee cup down. She raced toward the door, leaving Troy staring after her.

* * *

><p>Sharpay burst through the doors, terrified that Ryan would have vanished into the alley shadows like a ghost. But he was there, slouched against the wall. He had just taken something out of his pocket and was punching buttons on it. He looked up in surprise as the door of the coffee shop fell shut behind her.<p>

In the rapidly falling twilight, his hair looked coppery gold. "Your friend's poetry is terrible," he said.

Sharpay blinked, caught momentarily off guard. "What?"

"I said his poetry was terrible. It sounds like he ate a dictionary and started vomiting up words at random."

"I don't care about Chad's poetry." Sharpay was furious. "I want to know why you're following me."

"Who said I was following you?"

"_Nice_ try. And you were eavesdropping, too. Do you want to tell me what this is about, or should I just call the police?"

"And tell them what?" Ryan said witheringly. "That invisible people are bothering you? Trust me, little girl, the police aren't going to arrest someone they can't see."

"I told you before, my name is not little girl," she said through her teeth. "It's Sharpay."

"I know," he said. "Pretty name. Unique. Like the dog breed, right? I like it. Shar Pei's are champions. Real leaders."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You don't know much, do you?" he said. There was a lazy contempt in his gold eyes. "You seem to be a mundane like any other mundane, yet you can see me. It's a conundrum."

"What's a mundane?"

"Someone of the human world. Someone like you."

"But _you're_ human," Sharpay said.

"I am, "he said. "But I'm not like you." There was no defensiveness in his tone. He sounded like he didn't care if she believed him or not.

"You think you're better. That's why you were laughing at us."

"I was laughing at you because declarations of love amuse me, especially when unrequited," he said. "And because your Troy is one of the most mundane mundanes I've ever encountered. And because Hodge though you might be dangerous, but if you are, you certainly don't know it."

"_I'm _dangerous?" Sharpay echoed in astonishment. "I saw you kill someone last night. I saw you drive a knife up under his ribs and–" _And I saw him slash at you with fingers like razor blades. I saw you cut and bleeding, and now you look as if nothing ever touched you._

"I may be a killer," Ryan said, "but I know what I am. Can you say the same?"

"I'm an ordinary human being, just like you said. Who's Hodge?"

"My tutor. And I wouldn't be so quick to brand myself as ordinary, if I were you." He leaned forward. "Let me see your left hand."

"My left hand?" Sharpay echoed. He nodded. "If I show you my hand, will you leave me alone?"

"Certainly." His voice was edged with amusement.

She held out her right hand grudgingly. It looked pale in the half-light spilling from the windows, the knuckles dotted with a light dusting of freckles. Somehow she felt exposed as if she were pulling up her shirt and showing him her naked chest. He took her hand in his and turned it over. "Nothing." He sounded almost disappointed. "You're not right-handed, are you?"

"No. Why?"

He released her hand with a shrug. "Most Shadow hunter children get Marked on their left hands–or right, if they're right-handed like I am–when they're still young. It's a permanent rune that lends an extra skill with weapons." He showed her the back of his right hand; it looked perfectly normal to her.

"I don't see anything," she said.

"Let your mind relax," he suggested. "Wait for it to come to you. Like waiting for something to rise to the surface of water."

"You're crazy." But she relaxed, gazing at his hand, seeing the tiny lines across the knuckles, the long joints of the fingers–

It jumped out at her suddenly, flashing like a 'DON'T WALK' sign. A black design like an eye across the back of his hand. She blinked and it vanished. "A tattoo?"

He smiled smugly and lowered his hand. "I thought you could do it. And it's not a tattoo–it's a Mark. They're runes, burned into our skin."

"They make you handle weapons better?" Sharpay found this hard to believe, though perhaps no more hard to believe than the existence of zombies.

"Different Marks do different things. Some are permanent but the majority vanish when they've been used."

"That's why your arms aren't all inked up today?" she asked. "Even when I concentrate?"

"That's exactly why." He sounded pleased with himself. "I know you had the Sight, as least." He glanced up at the sky. "It's nearly full dark. We should go."

"_We_? I thought you were going to leave me alone."

"I lied," Ryan said without a shred of embarrassment. "Hodge said I have to bring you to the Institute with me. He wants to talk to you."

"Why would he want to talk to me?"

"Because you know the truth now," Ryan said. "There hasn't been a mundane who knew about us for at least a hundred years."

"About _us_?" she echoed. "You mean people like you. People who believe in demons."

"People who kill them," said Ryan. "We're called Shadow hunters. At least, that's what we call ourselves. The Down worlders have less complimentary names for us."

"Down worlders?"

"The Night Children. Warlocks. The fey. The magical folk of this dimension."

Sharpay shook her head. "Don't stop there. I suppose there are also, what, vampires and werewolves and zombies?"

"Of course there are," Ryan informed her. "Although you mostly find zombies farther south, where the _voudun_ priests are."

"What about mummies? Do they only hang around in Egypt?"

"Don't be ridiculous. No one believes in mummies."

"They don't?"

"Of course not," Ryan said. "Look, Hodge will explain all this to you when you see him."

Sharpay crossed her arms over her chest. "What if I don't want to see him?"

"That's your problem. You can come either willingly or unwillingly."

Sharpay couldn't believe her ears. "Are you threatening to _kidnap_ me?"

"If you want to look at it that way," Ryan said, "yes."

Sharpay opened her mouth to protest angrily, but was interrupted by a strident buzzing noise. Her phone was ringing again.

"Go ahead and answer that if you like," Ryan said generously.

The phone stopped ringing, then started up again, loud and insistent. Sharpay frowned–her mom must really be freaking out. She half-turned away from Ryan and began digging in her bag. By the time she unearthed the phone, it was on its third set of rings. She raised it to her ear. "Mom?"

"Oh, Felicity. Oh, thank God." A sharp prickle of alarm ran up Sharpay's spine. Her mother sounded panicked. "Listen to me–"

"It's all right, Mom. I'm fine. I'm on my way home–"

"_No_!" Terror scraped Jocelyn's voice raw. "Don't come home! Do you understand me, Felicity? Don't you dare come home. Go to Troy's Go straight to Troy's house and stay there until I can–" A noise in the background interrupted her: the sound of something falling, shattering, something heavy striking the floor–

"Mom!" Sharpay shouted into the phone. "Mom, are you all right?"

A loud buzzing noise came from the phone. Sharpay's mother's voice cut through the static: "Just promise me you won't come home. Go to Troy's and call Jack–tell him that he's found me–" Her words were drowned out by a heavy crash like splintering wood.

"_Who's_ found you? Mom, did you call the police? Did you–"

Her frantic question was cut off by a noise Sharpay would never forget–a harsh, slithering noise, followed by a thump. Sharpay heard her mother draw in a sharp breath before speaking, her voice eerily calm: "I love you, Felicity."

The phone went dead.

* * *

><p>"<em>Mom<em>!" Sharpay shrieked into the phone. "Mom, are you there?" _Call ended_, the screen said. But why would her mother have hung up like that?

"Sharpay," Ryan said. It was the first time she'd ever heard him say her name. "What's going on?"

Sharpay ignored him. Feverishly she hit the button that dialed her home number. There was no answer except a double-ton busy signal.

Sharpay's hands had begun to shake uncontrollably. When she tried to redial, the phone slipped out of her shaking grasp and hit the pavement hard. She dropped to her knees to retrieve it, but it was dead, a long crack visible across the front. "Damn it!" Almost in tears, she threw the phone down.

"Stop that," Ryan hauled her to her feet, his hand gripping her wrist. "Has something happened?"

"Give me your phone," Sharpay said, grabbing the black metal oblong out of his shirt pocket. "I have to–"

"It's not a phone," Ryan said, making no move to get it back. "It's a Sensor. You won't be able to use it."

"But I need to call the police!"

"Tell me what happened first." She tried to yank her wrist back, but his grip was incredibly strong. "I can _help_ you."

Rage flooded through Sharpay, a hot tide through her veins. Without even thinking about it, she struck out at his face, her nails raking his cheek. He jerked back in surprise. Tearing herself free, Sharpay ran toward the lights of Seventh Avenue.

When she reached the street, she spun around, half-expecting to see Ryan at her heels. But the alley was empty. For a moment she stared uncertainly into the shadows. Nothing moved inside them. She spun on her heel and ran for home.


	4. Ravener

**RAVENER**

The night had gotten even hotter, and running home felt like swimming as fast as she could through boiling soup. At the corner of her block Sharpay got trapped at a 'DON'T WALK' sign. She jittered up and down impatiently on the balls of her feet while traffic whizzed by in a blur of headlights. She tried to call home again, but Ryan hadn't been lying; his phone _wasn't_ a phone. At least, it didn't look like any phone Sharpay had ever seen before. The Sensor's buttons didn't have numbers on them, just more of those bizarre symbols, and there was no screen.

Jogging up the street toward her house, she saw that the second-floor windows were lit, the usual sign that her mother was home. _Okay,_ she told herself. _Everything's fine._ But her stomach tightened the moment she stepped into the entryway. The overhead light had burned out, and the foyer was in darkness. The shadows seemed full of secret movement. Shivering, she started upstairs.

"And just where do you think you're going?" said a voice.

Sharpay whirled. "What–"

She broke off. Her eyes were adjusting to the dimness, and she could see the shape of a large armchair, drawn up in front of Madame Dorothea's closed door. The old woman was wedged into it like an overstuffed cushion. In the dimness Sharpay could see only the round shape of her powdered face, the white lace fan in her hand, the dark, yawning gap of her mouth when she spoke. "Your mother," Dorothea said, "has been making a god-awful racket up there. What's she doing? Moving furniture?"

"I don't think–"

"And the stairwell light's burned out, did you notice?" Dorothea rapped her fan against the arm of the chair. "Can't your mother get her boyfriend in to change it?"

"Jack isn't–"

"The skylight needs washing too. It's filthy. No wonder it's nearly pitch black in here."

_Jack is NOT the landlord_, Sharpay wanted to say, but didn't. This was typical of her elderly neighbor. Once she got Jack to come around and change the lightbulb, she'd ask him to do a hundred other things–pick up her groceries, grout her shower. Once she made him chop up an old sofa with an ax so she could get it out of the apartment without taking the door off the hinges.

Sharpay sighed. "I'll ask."

"You'd better." Dorothea snapped her fan shut with a flick of her wrist.

Sharpay's sense that something was wrong only increased when she reached the apartment door. It was unlocked, hanging slightly open, spilling a wedge-shaped shaft of light onto the landing. With a feeling of increasing panic she pushed the door open.

Inside the apartment the lights were on, all the lamps, everything turned up to full brightness. The glow stabbed into her eyes.

Her mother's keys and pink handbag were on the small wrought iron shelf by the door, where she always left them. "Mom?" Sharpay called out. "Mom, I'm home."

There was no reply. She went into the living room. Both windows were open, yards of gauzy white curtains blowing in the breeze like restless ghosts. Only when the wind dropped and the curtains settled did Sharpay see that the cushions had been ripped from the sofa and scattered around the room. Some were torn length wise, cotton innards spilling onto the floor. The bookshelves had been tipped over, their contents scattered. The piano bench lay on its side, gaping open like a wound, Jocelyn's beloved music books spewing out.

Most terrifying were the paintings. Every single one had been cut from its frame and ripped into strips, which were scattered across the floor. It must have been done with a knife–canvas was almost impossible to tear with your bare hands. The empty frames looked like bones picked clean. Sharpay felt a scream rising up in her chest: "_Mom_!" she shrieked. "_Where are you? Mommy!_"

She hadn't called Jocelyn "Mommy" since she was eight.

Heart pumping, she raced into the kitchen. It was empty, the cabinet doors open, a smashed bottle of Tabasco sauce spilling peppery red liquid onto the linoleum. Her knees felt like bags of water. She knew she should race out of the apartment, get to a phone, call the police. But all those things seemed distant–she needed to find her mother first, needed to see that she was all right. What if robbers had come, what if her mother had put up a fight–?

_What kind of robbers didn't take a wallet with them, or the TV, the DVD player, or the expensive laptops_?

She was at the door to her mother's bedroom now. For a moment it looked as if this room, at least, had been left untouched. Jocelyn's handmade flowered quilt was folded carefully on the duvet. Sharpay's own face smiled back at her from the top of the bedside table, five years old, toothless smiled framed by platinum blonde hair. A sob rose in Sharpay's chest. _Mom_, she cried inside, _what happened to you_?

Silence answered her. No, not silence–a noise sounded through the apartment, raising the short hairs along the nape of her neck. Like something being knocked over–a heavy object striking the floor with a dull thud. The thud was followed by a dragging, slithering noise–and it was coming toward the bedroom. Stomach contracting in terror, Sharpay scrambled to her feet and turned around slowly.

For a moment she thought the doorway was empty and she felt a wave for relief. Then she looked down.

It was crouched against the floor, a long, scaled creature with a cluster of flat black eyes set dead center in the front of it's domed skull. Something like a cross between and alligator and a centipede, it had a thick, flat snout and a barbed tail that whipped menacingly from side to side. Multiple legs bunched underneath it as it readied itself to spring.

A shriek tore itself out of Sharpay's throat. She staggered backward, tripped, and fell, just as the creature lunged at her. She rolled to the side and it missed her by inches, sliding along the wood floor, its claws gouging deep grooves. A low growl bubbled from its throat.

She scrambled to her feet and ran toward the hallway, but the thing was too fast for her. It sprang again, landing just above the door, where it hung like a gigantic malignant spider, staring down at her with its cluster of eyes. Its jaws opened slowly, showing a row of fanged teeth spilling greenish drool. A long black tongue flickered out between its jaws as it gurgled and hissed. To her horror Sharpay realized that the noises it was making were words.

"_Girl_," it hissed. "_Flesh. Blood. To eat, oh, to eat._"

It began to slither slowly down the wall. Some part of Sharpay had passed beyond terror into a sort of icy stillness. The thing was on its feet now, crawling toward her. Backing away, she seized a heavy framed photo off the bureau beside her–herself and her mother and Jack at Coney Island, about to go on the bumper cars–and flung it at the monster.

The photograph hit its midsection and bounced off, striking the floor with the sound of shattering glass. The creature didn't seem to notice. It came on toward her, broken glass splintering under its feet. "_Bones, to crunch, to suck out the marrow, to drink the veins_…"

Sharpay's back hit the wall. She could back up no farther. She felt a movement against her hip and nearly jumped out of her skin. Her pocket. Plunging her hand inside, she drew out the plastic thing she'd taken from Ryan. The Sensor was shuddering, like a cell phone set to vibrate. The hard material was almost painfully hot against her palm. She closed her hand around the Sensor just as the creature sprang.

The creature hurtled into her, knocking her to the ground, and her head and shoulders slammed against the floor. She twisted to the side, but it was too heavy. It was on top of her, an oppressive, slimy weight that made her want to gag. "_To eat, to eat_," it moaned. "_But it is not allowed, to swallow, to savor._"

The hot breath in her face stank of blood. She couldn't breathe. Her ribs felt like they might shatter. Her arm was pinned between her body and the monster's, the Sensor digging into her palm. She twisted, trying to work her hand free. "_Valentine will never know. He said nothing about a girl. Valentine will not be angry_." Its lipless mouth twitched as its jaw opened, slowly, a wave of stinking breath hot in her face.

Sharpay's hand came free. With a scream she hit out at the thing, wanting to smash it, to blind it. She had almost forgotten the Sensor. As the creature lunged for her face, jaws wide, she jammed the Sensor between its teeth and felt hot, acidic drool coat her wrist and spill in burning drops onto the bare skin of her face and throat. As if from a distance, she could hear herself screaming.

Looking almost surprised, the creature jerked back, the Sensor lodged between too teeth. It growled, a thick angry buzz, and threw its head back. Sharpay saw it swallow, saw the movement of its throat. _I'm next_, she thought, panicked. _I'm_–

Suddenly the thing began to twitch. Spasming uncontrollably, it rolled off Sharpay and onto its back, multiple legs churning the air. Black fluid poured from its mouth.

Gasping for air, Sharpay rolled over and started to scramble away from the thing. She'd nearly reached the door when she heard something whistle through the air next to her head. She tried to duck, but it was too late. An object slammed heavily into the back of her skull, and she collapsed forward into blackness.

* * *

><p>Light stabbed through her eyelids, blue, white, and red. There was a high wailing noise, rising in pitch like the scream of a terrified child. Sharpay gagged and opened her eyes.<p>

She was lying on cold damp grass. The night sky rippled overhead, the pewter gleam of stars washed out by city lights. Ryan knelt beside her, the silver cuffs on his wrists throwing sparks of light as he tore the piece of cloth he was holding into strips. "Don't move."

The wailing threatened to split her ears in half. Sharpay turned her head to the side, disobediently, and was rewarded with a razoring stab of pain that shot down her back. She was lying on a patch of grass behind Jocelyn's carefully tended rosebushes. The foliage partially hid her view of the street, where a police car, its blue-and-white light bar flashing, was pulled up to the curb, siren wailing. Already a small knot of neighbors had gathered, staring as the car door opened and two blue-uniformed officers emerged.

The _police_. She tried to sit up, and gagged again, fingers spasming into the damp earth.

"I told you not to move," Ryan hissed. "That Ravener demon got you in the back of the neck. It was half-dead so it wasn't much of a sting, but we have to get you to the Institute. Hold still."

"That thing–the monster–it _talked_." Sharpay was shuddering uncontrollably.

"You've heard a demon talk before." Ryan's hands were gentle as he slipped the strip of knotted cloth under her neck, and tied it. It was smeared with something waxy, like the gardener's salve her mother used to keep her paint-and turpentine-abused hands soft.

"The demon in Pandemonium–it looked like a person."

"It was an Eidolon demon. A shape-changer. Raveners look like they look. Not very attractive, but they're too stupid to care."

"It said it was going to eat me."

"But it didn't. You killed it." Ryan finished the knot and sat back.

To Sharpay's relief the pain in the back of her neck had faded. She hauled herself into a sitting position. "The police are here." Her voice came out like a frog's croak. "We should–"

"There's nothing they can do. Somebody probably heard you screaming and reported it. Ten to one those aren't real police officers. Demons have a way of hiding their tracks."

"My mom," Sharpay said, fording the words through her swollen throat.

"There's Ravener poison coursing through your veins _right now_. You'll be dead in an hour if you don't come with me." He got to his feet and held out a hand to her. She took it and he pulled her upright. "Come on."

The world tilted. Ryan slid a hand across her back, holding her steady. He smelled of dirt, blood, and metal. "Can you walk?"

"I think so." She glanced through the densely blooming bushes. She could see the police coming up the path. One of them, a slim blonde woman, held a flashlight in one hand. As she raised it, Sharpay saw the hand was fleshless, a skeleton hand sharpened to bone points at the fingertips. "Her hand–"

"I told you they might be demons." Ryan glanced at the back of the house. "We have to get out of here. Can we go through the alley?"

Sharpay shook her head. "It's bricked up. There's no way–" Her words dissolved into a fit of coughing. She raised her hand to cover her mouth. It came away red. She whimpered.

He grabbed her wrist, turned it over so the white, vulnerable flesh of her inner arm lay bare under the moonlight. Traceries of blue vein mapped the inside of her skin, carrying poisoned blood to her heart, her brain. Sharpay felt her knees buckle. There was something in Ryan's hand, something sharp and silver. She tried to pull her hand back, but his grip was too hard: She felt a stinging kiss against her skin. When he let go, she saw an inked black symbol like the ones that covered his skin, just below the fold of her wrist. This one looked like a set of over-lapping circles.

"What's that supposed to do?"

"It'll hide you," he said. "Temporarily." He slid the thing Sharpay had thought was a knife back into his belt. It was a long, luminous cylinder, as thick around as an index finger and tapering to a point. "My stele," he said.

Sharpay didn't ask what that was. She was busy trying not to fall over. The ground was heaving up and down under her feet. "Ryan," she said, and she crumpled into him. He caught her as if he were used to catching fainting girls, as if he did it every day. Maybe he did. He swung her up into his arms, saying something in her ear that sounded like _Covenant_. Sharpay tipped her head back to look at him but saw only the stars cartwheeling across the dark sky overhead. Then the bottom dropped out of everything, and even Ryan's arms around her were not enough to keep her from falling.


	5. Clave and Covenant

**CLAVE AND COVENANT**

"Do you think she'll ever wake up? It's been three days already."

"You have to give her time. Demon poison is strong stuff, and she's a mundane. She hasn't got runes to keep her strong like we do."

"Mundies die awfully easily, don't they?"

"Gabriella, you know it's bad luck to talk about death in a sickroom."

_Three days_, Sharpay thought slowly. All her thoughts ran as thickly and slowly as blood or honey. _I have to wake up._

But she couldn't.

The dreams held her, one after the other, a river of images that bore her along like a leaf tossed in a current. She saw her mother lying in a hospital bed, eyes like bruises in her white face. She saw Jack, standing atop a pile of bones. Ryan with white feathered wings sprouting out of his back, Gabriella sitting naked with her whip curled around her like a net of gold rings, Troy with crosses burned into the palms of his hands. Angels, falling and burning. Falling out of the sky.

"I told you it was the same girl."

"I know. Little thing, isn't she? Ryan said she killed a Ravener."

"Yeah. I thought she was a pixie the first time we saw her. She's not pretty enough to be a pixie, though."

"Well, nobody looks their best with demon poison in their veins. Is Hodge going to call on the Brothers?"

"I hope not. They give me the creeps. Anyone who mutilates themselves like that–"

"We mutilate ourselves."

"I know, Jason, but when we do it, it isn't permanent. And it doesn't always hurt…"

"If you're old enough. Speaking of which, where is Ryan? He saved her, didn't he? I would have thought he'd take some interest in her recovery."

"Hodge said he hasn't been to see her since he brought her here. I guess he doesn't care."

"Sometimes I wonder if he–Look! She moved!"

"I guess she's alive after all." A sigh. "I'll tell Hodge."

* * *

><p>Sharpay's eyelids felt as if they had been sewed shut. She imagined she could feel tearing skin as she peeled them slowly open and blinked for the first time in three days.<p>

She saw clear blue sky above her, white puffy clouds and chubby angels with gilded ribbons trailing from their wrists. _Am I dead_? She wondered. _Could heaven actually look like this_? She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again: This time she realized that what she was staring at was an arched wooden ceiling, painted with a rococo motif of clouds and cherubs.

Painfully she hauled herself into a sitting position. Every part of her ached, especially the back of her neck. She glanced around. She was tucked into a linen-sheeted bed, one of a long row of similar beds with metal headboards. Her bed had a small nightstand beside it with a white pitcher and cup on it. Lace curtains were pulled across the windows, blocking the light, although she could hear the faint, ever-present New York sounds of traffic coming from outside.

"So, you're finally awake," said a dry voice. "Hodge will be pleased. _We_ all thought you'd probably die in your sleep."

Sharpay turned. Gabriella was perched on the next bed, her long jet-black hair wound into two thick braids that fell past her waist. Her white dress had been replaced by jeans and a tight blue tank top, though the red pendant still winked at her throat. Her dark spiraling tattoos were gone; her skin was as unblemished as the surface of a bowl of cream.

"Sorry to disappoint you." Sharpay's voice rasped like sandpaper. "Is this the Institute?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "Is there anything Ryan _didn't_ tell you?"

Sharpay coughed. "This is the Institute, right?"

"Yes. You're in the infirmary, not that you haven't figured that out already."

A sudden, stabbing pain made Sharpay clutch at her stomach. She gasped.

Gabriella looked at her in alarm. "Are you okay?"

The pain was fading, but Sharpay was aware of an acid feeling in the back of her throat and a strange light-headedness. "My stomach."

"Oh, right. I almost forgot. Hodge said to give you this when you woke up." Gabriella grabbed for the ceramic pitcher and poured some of the contents into the matching cup, which she handed to Sharpay. It was full of cloudy liquid that steamed slightly. It smelled like herbs and something else, something rich and dark. "You haven't eaten anything in three days," Gabriella pointed out. "That's probably why you feel sick."

Sharpay gingerly took a sip. It was delicious, rich and satisfying with a buttery aftertaste. "What is this?"

Gabriella shrugged. "One of Hodge's tisanes. They always work." She slid off the bed, landing on the floor with a catlike arch of her back. "I'm Gabriella Montez, by the way. I live here."

"I know your name. I'm Sharpay. Sharpay Evans. Did Ryan bring me here?"

Gabriella nodded. "Hodge was furious. You got ichor and blood all over the carpet in the entryway. If he'd done it while my parents were here, he'd have gotten grounded for sure." She looked at Sharpay more narrowly. "Ryan said you killed that Ravener demon all by yourself."

A quick image of the scorpion thing with its crabbed, evil face flashed through Sharpay's mine; she shuddered and clutched the cup more tightly. "I guess I did."

"But you're a mundie."

"Amazing, isn't it?" Sharpay said, savoring the look of thinly disguised amazement on Gabriella's face. "Where is Ryan? Is he around?"

Gabriella shrugged. "Somewhere," she said. "I should go tell everyone you're up. Hodge'll want to talk to you."

"Hodge is Ryan's tutor, right?"

"Hodge tutors us all." She pointed. "The bathroom's through there, and I hung some of my old clothes on the towel rack in case you want to change."

Sharpay went to take another sip from the cup and found that it was empty. She no longer felt hungry or light-headed either, which was a relief. She set the cup down and hugged the sheet around herself. "What happened to _my_ clothes?"

"They were covered in blood and poison. Ryan burned them."

"Did he?" asked Sharpay. "Tell me, is he always really rude, or does he save that for mundanes?"

"Oh, he's rude to everyone," said Gabriella airily. "It's what makes him so damn sexy. That, and he's killed more demons that anyone else his age."

Sharpay looked at her, perplexed. "Isn't he your brother?"

That got Gabriella's attention. She laughed out loud. "Ryan? My brother? No. Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Well, he lives here with you," Sharpay pointed out. "Doesn't he?"

Gabriella nodded. "Well, yes, but…"

"Why doesn't he live with his own parents?"

For a fleeting moment Gabriella looked uncomfortable. "Because they're dead."

Sharpay's mouth opened in surprise. "Did they die in an accident?"

"No." Gabriella fidgeted, pushing the dark lock of hair behind her left ear. "His mother died when he was born. His father was murdered when he was ten. Ryan saw the whole thing."

"Oh," Sharpay said, her voice small. "Was it… demons?"

Gabriella got to her feet. "Look, I'd better let everyone know you've woken up. They've been waiting for you to open your eyes for three days. Oh, and there's soap in the bathroom," she added. "You might want to clean up a little. You smell."

Sharpay glared at her. "Thanks a lot."

"Any time."

* * *

><p>Gabriella's clothes looked ridiculous. Sharpay had to roll the legs on the jeans up several times before she stopped tripping on them, and the plunging neckline of the red tank top only emphasized her gift of what Chad would have called a "rack."<p>

She cleaned up in the small bathroom, using a bar of hard lavender soap. Drying herself with a white hand towel left damp hair straggling around her face in fragrant tangles. She squinted at her reflection in the mirror. There was a purpling bruise high up on her left cheek, and her lips were dry and swollen.

_I have to call Jack_, she thought. Surely there was a phone around here somewhere. Maybe they'd let her use it after she talked to Hodge.

She found her Sketchers placed neatly at the foot of her infirmary bed, her keys tied into the laces. Sliding her feet into them, she took a deep breath and left to find Gabriella.

The corridor outside the infirmary was empty. Sharpay glanced down it, perplexed. It looked like the sort of hallway she sometimes found herself racing down in nightmares, shadowy and infinite. Glass lamps blown into the shapes of roses hung at intervals on the walls, and the air smelled like dust and candle wax.

In the distance she could hear a faint and delicate noise, like wind chimes shaken by a storm. She set off down the corridor slowly, trailing a hand along the wall. The Victorian-looking wallpaper was faded with age, burgundy and pale gray. Each side of the corridor was lined with closed doors.

The sound she was following grew louder. Now she could identify it as the sound of a piano being played with desultory but undeniable skill, though she couldn't identify the tune.

Turning the corner, she came to a doorway, the door propped fully open. Peering in she saw what was clearly a music room. A grand piano stood in one corner, and rows of chairs were arranged against the far wall. A covered harp occupied the center of the room.

Ryan was seated at the grand piano, his slender hands moving rapidly over the keys. He was barefoot, dressed in jeans and a gray T-shirt, his tawny hair ruffled up around his head as if he'd just woken up. Watching the quick, sure movements of his hands across the keys, Sharpay remembered how it had felt to be lifted up by those hands, his arms holding her up and the stars hurtling down around her head like a rain of silver tinsel.

She must have made a noise, because he twisted around on the stool, blinking into the shadows. "Jason?" he said. "Is that you?"

"It's not Jason. It's me." She stepped farther into the room. "Sharpay."

Piano keys jangled as he got to his feet. "Our own Sleeping Beauty. Who finally kissed you awake?"

"Nobody. I woke up on my own."

"Was there anyone with you?"

"Gabriella, but she went off to get someone–Hodge, I think. She told me to wait, but–"

"I should have warned her about your habit of never doing what you're told." Ryan squinted at her. "Are those Gabriella's clothes? They look ridiculous on you."

"I could point out that you burned _my_ clothes."

"It was purely precautionary." He slid the gleaming black piano cover closed. "Come on, I'll take you to Hodge."

* * *

><p>The Institute was huge, a vast cavernous space that looked less like it had been designed according to a floor plan and more like it had been naturally hollowed out of rock by the passage of water and years. Through half-open doors Sharpay glimpsed countless identical small rooms, each with a stripped bed, a nightstand, and a large wooden wardrobe standing open. Pale arches of stone held up the high ceilings, many of the arches intricately carved with small figures. She noticed certain repeating motifs: angels and swords, suns and roses.<p>

"Why does this place have so many bedrooms?" Sharpay asked. "I thought it was a research institute."

"This is the residential wing. We're pledged to offer safety and lodging to any Shadowhunter who requests it. We can house up to two hundred people here."

"But most of these rooms are empty."

"People come and go. Nobody stays for long. Usually it's just us–Jason, Gabriella, Max, their parents–and me and Hodge."

"Max?"

"You met the beauteous Gabriella? Jason is her elder brother. Max is the youngest, but he's overseas with his parents."

"On vacation?"

"Not exactly." Ryan hesitated. "You can think of them as–as foreign diplomats, and of this as an embassy, of sorts. Right now they're in the Shadowhunter home country, working out some very delicate peace negotiations. They brought Max with them because he's so young."

"Shadowhunter home country?" Sharpay's head was spinning. "What's it called?"

"Idris."

"I've never heard of it."

"You wouldn't have." That irritating superiority was back in his voice. "Mundanes don't know about it. There are wardings–protective spells–up all over the borders. If you tried to cross into Idris, you'd simply find yourself transported instantly from one border to the next. You'd never know what happened."

"So it's not on any maps?"

"Not mundie ones. For our purposes you can consider it a small country between Germany and France."

"But there isn't anything between Germany and France. Except Switzerland."

"Precisely," said Ryan.

"I take it you've been there. To Idris, I mean."

"I grew up there." Ryan's voice was neutral, but something in his tone let her know that more questions in that direction would not be welcome. "Most of us do. There are, of course, Shadowhunters all over the world. We have to be everywhere, because demonic activity is everywhere. But to a Shadowhunter, Idris is always 'home.'"

"Like Mecca or Jerusalem," said Sharpay thoughtfully. "So most of you are brought up there, and then when you grow up–"

"We're sent where we're needed," said Ryan shortly. "And there are a few, like Gabriella and Jason, who grow up away from the home country because that's where their parents are. With all the resources of the Institute here, with Hodge's training–" He broke off. "This is the library."

They had reached an arch-shaped set of wooden doors. A blue Persian cat with yellow eyes lay curled in front of them. It raised its head as they approached and yowled. "Hey, Church," Ryan said, stroking the cat's back with a bare foot. The cat slit its eyes in pleasure.

"Wait," said Sharpay. "Jason and Gabriella and Max–they're the only Shadowhunters your age that you know, that you spend time with?"

Ryan stopped stroking the cat. "Yes."

"That must get kind of lonely."

"I have everything I need." He pushed the doors open. After a moment's hesitation she followed him inside.

* * *

><p>The library was circular, With a ceiling that tapered to a point, as if it had been built inside a tower. The walls were lined with books, the shelves so high that tall ladders set on casters were placed along them at intervals. These were no ordinary books either–these were books bound in leather and velvet, clasped with sturdy-looking locks and hinges made of brass and silver. Their spines were studded with dully glowing jewels and illuminated with gold script. They looked worn in a way that made it clear that these books were not just old but were well-used and had been loved.<p>

The floor was polished wood, inlaid with chips of glass and marble and bits of semiprecious stone. The inlay formed a pattern that Sharpay couldn't quite decipher–it might have been the constellations, or even a map of the world; she suspected she'd have to climb up into the tower and look down in order to see it properly.

In the center of the room sat a magnificent desk. It was carved from a single slab of wood, a great, heavy piece of oak that gleamed with the dull shine of years. The slab rested upon the backs of two angels, carved from the same wood, their wings gilded and their faces enraged with a look of suffering as if the weight of the slab were breaking their backs. Behind the desk sat a thin man with gray-streaked hair and a long beaky nose.

"A book lover, I see," he said, smiling at Sharpay. "You didn't tell me that, Ryan."

Ryan chuckled. Sharpay could tell that he had come up behind her and was standing there with his hands in his pockets, grinning that infuriating grin of his. "We haven't done much talking during our short acquaintance," he said. "I'm afraid our reading habits didn't come up."

Sharpay turned around and shot him a glare.

"How can you tell?" she asked the man behind the desk. "That I like books, I mean."

"The look on your face when you walked in," he said, standing up and coming around from behind the desk. "Somehow I doubted you were that impressed by _me_."

Sharpay stifled a gasp as he rose. For a moment it seemed to her that he was strangely misshaped, his left shoulder humped and higher than the other. As he approached, she saw that the hunch was actually a bird, perched neatly on his shoulder–a glossy feathered creature with bright black eyes.

"This is Huge," the man said, touching the bird on his shoulder. "Huge is a raven, and, as such, he knows many things. I, meanwhile, am Hodge Starkweather, a professor of history, and, as such, I do not know nearly enough."

Sharpay laughed a little, despite herself, and shook his out-stretched hand. "Sharpay Evans."

"Honored to make your acquaintance," he said. "I would be honored to make you the acquaintance of anyone who could kill a Ravener with her bare hands."

"It wasn't my bare hands." It still felt odd to be congratulated for killing something. "It was Ryan's–well, I don't remember what it was called, but–"

"She means my Sensor," Ryan said. "She shoved it down the thing's throat. The runes must have choked it. I guess I'll need another one," he added, almost as an afterthought. "I should have mentioned that."

"There are several extra in the weapons room," said Hodge. When he smiled at Sharpay, a thousand small lines rayed out from around his eyes, like the cracks in an old painting. "That was quick thinking. What gave you the idea of using the Sensor as a weapon?"

Before she could reply, a sharp laugh sounded through the room. Sharpay had been so enraptured by the books and distracted by Hodge that she hadn't seen Jason in an overstuffed red armchair by the empty fireplace. "I can't believe you buy that story, Hodge," he said.

At first Sharpay didn't even register his words. She was too busy staring at him. Like many only children, she was fascinated by the resemblance between siblings, and now, in the full light of day, she could see exactly how much Jason looked like his sister. They had the same jet-black hair, the same slender eyebrows winging up at the corners, the same olive-colored skin. But where Gabriella was all arrogance, Jason slumped down in the chair as if he hoped nobody would notice him. His lashes were long and dark like Gabriella's, but where hers were black, his were dark blue of bottle glass. They gazed at Sharpay with a hostility as pure and concentrated as acid.

"I'm not quite sure what you mean, Jason." Hodge raised an eyebrow. Sharpay wondered how old he was; there was a sort of agelessness to him, despite the gray in his hair. He wore a neat gray tweet suit, perfectly pressed. He would have looked like a kindly college professor if it hadn't been for the thick scar that drew up the right side of his face. She wondered how he had gotten it. "Are you suggesting that she didn't kill that demon after all?"

"Of course she didn't. Look at her–she's a mundie, Hodge, and a little kid, at that. There's no way she took on a Ravener."

"I'm not a little kid," Sharpay interrupted. "I'm sixteen years old–well, I will be on Sunday."

"The same age as Gabriella," Hodge said. "Would you call her a child?"

"Gabriella hails from one of the greatest Shadowhunter dynasties in history," Jason said dryly. "This girl, on the other hand, hails from New Jersey."

"I'm from Brooklyn!" Sharpay was outraged. "And so what? I just killed a demon in my own house, and you're going to be a dickhead about it because I'm not some spoiled-rotten rich bitch like you and your sister?"

Jason looked astonished. "_What_ did you call me?"

Ryan laughed. "She has a point, Jason," Ryan said. "It's those bridge-and-tunnel demons you really have to watch out for–"

"It's not _funny_, Ryan," Jason interrupted, starting to his feet. "Are you just going to let her stand there and call me names?"

"Yes," Ryan said kindly. "It'll do you good–try to think of it as endurance training."

"We may be _parabatai_," Jason said tightly. "But you flippancy is wearing on my patience."

"And your obstinacy is wearing on mine. When I found her, she was lying on the floor in a pool of blood with a dying demon practically on top of her. I watched as it vanished. If she didn't kill it, who did?"

"Raveners are stupid. Maybe it got itself in the neck with its stinger. It's happened before–"

"Now you're suggesting it committed suicide?"

Jason's mouth tightened. "It isn't right for her to be here. Mundies aren't allowed in the Institute, and there are good reasons for that. If anyone knew about this, we could be reported to the Clave."

"That's not entirely true," Hodge said. "The Law does allow us to offer sanctuary to mundanes in certain circumstances. A Ravener has already attacked Sharpay's mother–she could well have been next."

_Attacked._ Sharpay wondered if this was a euphemism for "murdered." The raven on Hodge's shoulder cawed softly.

"Raveners are search-and-destroy machines," Jason said. "They act under orders from warlocks or powerful demon lords. Now, what interest would a warlock or demon lord have in an ordinary mundane household?" His eyes when he looked at Sharpay were bright with dislike. "Any thoughts?"

Sharpay said, "It must have been a mistake."

"Demons don't make those kind of mistakes. If they went after your mother, there must have been a reason. If she were innocent–"

"What do you mean, 'innocent'?" Sharpay's voice was quiet.

Jason looked taken aback. "I–"

"What he means," said Hodge, "is that it is extremely unusual for a powerful demon, the kind who might command a host of lesser demons, to interest himself in the affairs of human beings. No mundane may summon a demon–they lack that power–but there have been some, desperate and foolish, who have found a witch or warlock to do it for them."

"My mother doesn't know any warlocks. She doesn't believe in magic." A thought occurred to Sharpay. "Madame Dorothea–she lives downstairs–she's a witch. Maybe the demons were after her and got my mom by mistake?"

Hodge's eyebrows shot up into his hair. "A witch lives downstairs from you?"

"She's a hedge-witch–a fake," Ryan said. "I already looked into it. There's no reason for any warlock to be interested in her unless he's in the market for nonfunctional crystal balls."

"And we're back where we began." Hodge reached up to stroke the bird on his shoulder. "It seems the time has come to notify the Clave."

"No!" Ryan said. "We can't–"

"It made sense to keep Sharpay's presence here a secret while we were not sure she would recover," Hodge said. "But now she has, and she is the first mundane to pass through the doors of the Institute in over a hundred years. You know the rules about mundane knowledge of Shadowhunters, Ryan. The Clave must be informed."

"Absolutely," Jason agreed. "I could get a message to my father–"

"She's not a mundane," Ryan said quietly.

Hodge's eyebrows shot back up to his hairline and stayed there. Jason, caught in the middle of a sentence, choked with surprise. In the sudden silence, Sharpay could hear the sound of Hugo's wings rustling. "But I am," she said.

"No," said Ryan. "You aren't." He turned to Hodge, and Sharpay saw the slight movement of his throat as he swallowed. She found this glimpse of his nervousness oddly reassuring. "That night–there were Du'sien demons, dressed like police officers. We had to get past them. Sharpay was too weak to run, and there wasn't time to hide–she would have died. So I used my stele–put a _mendelin_ rune on the inside of her arm. I though–"

"Are you out of your _mind_?" Hodge slammed his hand down on top of the desk so hard that Sharpay thought the wood might crack. "You know what the Law says about placing Marks on mundanes! You–you of all people ought to know better!"

"But it worked," said Ryan. "Sharpay, show them your arm."

With a baffled glance in Ryan's direction, she held out her bare arm. She remembered looking down at it that night in the alley, thinking how vulnerable it seemed. Now, just below the crease of her wrist, she could see three faint overlapping circles, the lines as faint as the memory of a scar that had faded with the passage of years. "See, it's almost gone," Ryan said. "It didn't hurt her at all."

"That's not the point." Hodge could barely control his anger. "You could have turned her into a Forsaken."

Two bright spots of color burned high up on Jason's cheekbones. "I can't believe you, Ryan. Only Shadowhunters can receive Covenant Marks–they _kill_ mundanes–"

"She's not a mundane. Haven't you been listening? It explains why she could see us. She must have Clave blood."

Sharpay lowered her arm, feeling suddenly cold. "But, I don't. I couldn't."

"You must," Ryan said, without looking at her. "If you didn't, that Mark I made on your arm…"

"That's enough, Ryan," said Hodge, the displeasure clear in his voice. "There's not need to frighten her further."

"But I was right, wasn't I? It explains what happened to her mother, too. If she was a Shadowhunter in exile, she might well have Downworld enemies."

"My mother wasn't a Shadowhunter!"

"Your father, then," Ryan said. "What about him?"

Sharpay returned his gaze with a flat stare. "He died. Before I was born."

Ryan flinched, almost imperceptibly. It was Jason who spoke. "It's possible," he said uncertainly. "If her father were a Shadowhunter, and her mother a mundane–well, we all know it's against the Law to marry a mundie. Maybe they were in hiding."

"My mother would have told me," Sharpay said, although she thought the lack of more than one photo of her father, the way her mother never spoke of him, and knew that it wasn't true.

"Not necessarily," said Ryan. "We all have secrets."

"Jack," Sharpay said. "Our friend. He would know." With the thought of Jack came a flash of guilt and horror. "It's been three days–he must be frantic. Can I call him? Is there a phone?" She turned to Ryan. "Please."

Ryan hesitated, looking at Hodge, who nodded and moved aside from the desk. Behind him was a globe, made of beaten brass, that didn't look quite like other globes she had seen; there was something subtly strange about the shape of the countries and continents. Next to the globe was an old-fashioned black telephone with a silver rotary dial. Sharpay lifted it to her ear, the familiar dial tone washing over her like soothing water.

Jack picked up on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Jack!" She sagged against the desk. "It's me. It's Sharpay."

"Shar." She could hear the relief in his voice, along with something else she couldn't quite identify. "You're all right?"

"I'm fine," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't call you before. Jack, my mom–"

"I know. The police were here."

"Then you haven't heard from her." Any vestigial hope that her mother had fled the house and hidden somewhere disappeared. There was no way she wouldn't have contacted Jack. "What did the police say?"

"Just that she was missing." Sharpay thought of the police-woman with her skeletal hand, and shivered. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the city," Sharpay said. "I don't know where exactly. With some friends. My wallet's gone, though. If you've got some cash, I could take a cab to your place–"

"No," he said shortly.

The phone slipped in her sweaty hand. She caught it. "What?"

"No," he said. "It's too dangerous. You can't come here."

"We could call–"

"Look." His voice was hard. "Whatever your mother's gotten herself mixed up in, it's nothing to do with me. You're better off where you are."

"But I don't want to stay here." She heard the whine in her voice, like a child's. "I don't know these people. You–"

"I'm _not_ your father, Sharpay. I've told you that before."

Tears burned the backs of her eyed. "I'm sorry. It's just–"

"Don't call me for favors again," he said. "I've got my own problems, I don't need to be bothered with yours," he added, and hung up the phone.

* * *

><p>She stood and stared at the receiver, the dial ton buzzing in her ear like a big ugly wasp. She dialed Jack's number again, waited. This time it went to voice mail. She banged the phone down, her hands trembling.<p>

Ryan was leaning against the armrest of Jason's chair, watching her. "I take it he wasn't happy to hear from you?"

Sharpay's heart felt as if it had shrunk down to the size of a walnut: a tiny, hard stone in her chest. _I will not cry_, she thought, _Not in front of these people_.

"I think I'd like to have a talk with Sharpay," said Hodge. "Alone," he added firmly, seeing Ryan's expression.

Jason stood up. "Fine. We'll leave you to it."

"That's hardly fair," Ryan objected. "I'm the one who found her. I'm the one who saved her life! You want me here, don't you?" he appealed, turning to Sharpay.

Sharpay looked away, knowing that if she opened her mouth, she'd start to cry. As if from a distance, she heard Jason laugh.

"Not everyone wants you all the time, Ryan," he said.

"Don't be ridiculous," she heard Ryan say, but he sounded disappointed. "Fine, then. We'll be in the weapons room."

The door closed behind them with a definitive click. Sharpay's eyes were stinking the way they did when she tried to hold tears back for too long. Hodge loomed up in front of her, a fussing gray blur. "Sit down," he said. "Here, on the couch."

She sank gratefully onto the soft cushions. Her cheeks were wet. She reached up to brush the tears away, blinking. "I don't cry much usually," she found herself saying. "It doesn't mean anything. I'll be all right in a minute."

"Most people don't cry when they're upset or frightened, but rather when they're frustrated. Your frustration is understandable. You've been through a most trying time."

"Trying?" Sharpay wiped her eyes on the hem of Gabriella's shirt. "You could say that."

Hodge pulled the chair out from behind the desk, dragging it over so that he could sit facing her. His eyes, she saw, were gray, like his hair and tweed coat, but there was kindness in them. "Is there anything I could get for you?" he asked. "Something to drink? Some tea?"

"I don't want tea," said Sharpay with a muffled force. "I want to find my mother. And then I want to find out who took her in the first place, and I want to kill them."

"Unfortunately," said Hodge, "we're all out of bitter revenge at the moment, so it's either tea or nothing."

Sharpay dropped the hem of the shirt–now spotted all over with wet blotches–and said, "What am I supposed to do, then?"

"You could start by telling me a little about what happened," Hodge said, rummaging in his pocket. He produced a handkerchief–crisply folded–and handed it to her. She took it with silent astonishment. She'd never before known anyone who carried a handkerchief. "The demon you saw in your apartment–was that the first such creature you'd ever seen? You had no inkling such creatures existed before?"

Sharpay shook her head, then paused. "One before, but I didn't realize what it was. The first time I saw Ryan–"

"Right, of course, how foolish of me to forget." Hodge nodded. "In Pandemonium. That was the first time?"

"Yes."

"And your mother never mentioned them to you–nothing about another world, perhaps, that most people cannot see? Did she seem particularly interested in myths, fairy tales, legends of the fantastic–"

"No. She hated all that stuff. She even hated Disney movies. She didn't like me reading manga. She said it was childish."

Hodge scratched his head. His hair didn't move. "Most peculiar," he murmured.

"Not really," said Sharpay. "My mother wasn't peculiar. She was the most normal person in the world."

"Normal people don't generally find their homes ransacked by demons," Hodge said, not unkindly.

"Couldn't it have been a mistake?"

"If it had been a mistake," Hodge said, "and you were an ordinary girl, you would not have seen the demon that attacked you–or if you had, your mind would have processed it as something else entirely: a vicious dog, even another human being. That you could see it, that it spoke to you–"

"How did you know it spoke to me?"

"Ryan reported that you said 'It talked.'"

"It hissed." Sharpay shivered, remembering. "It talked about wanting to eat me, but I think it wasn't supposed to."

"Raveners are generally under the control of a stronger demon. They're not very bright or capable on their own," explained Hodge. "Did it say what its master was looking for?"

Sharpay thought. "It said something about a Valentine, but–"

Hodge jerked upright, so abruptly that Huge, who had been resting comfortable on his shoulder, launched himself into the air with an irritable caw. "_Valentine_?"

"Yes," Sharpay said. "I heard the same name in Pandemonium from the boy–I mean, the demon–"

"It's a name we all know," Hodge said shortly. His voice was steady, but she could see a slight tremble in his hands. Hugo, back on his shoulder, ruffed his feathers uneasily.

"A demon?"

"No. Valentine is–_was_–a Shadowhunter."

"A Shadowhunter? Why do you say _was_?"

"Because he's dead," said Hodge flatly. "He's been dead for sixteen years."

Sharpay sank back against the couch cushions. Her head was throbbing. Maybe she should have gone for that tea after all. "Could it be someone else? Someone with the same name?"

Hodge's laugh was a humorless bark. "No. But it could have been someone using his name to send a message." He stood up and paced to his desk, hands locked behind his back. "And this would be the time to do it."

"Why now?"

"Because of the Accords."

"The peace negotiations? Ryan mentioned those. Peace with who?"

"Down worlders," Hodge murmured. He looked down at Sharpay. His mouth was a tight line. "Forgive me," he said. "This must be confusing for you."

"You think?"

He leaned against the desk, stroking Hugo's feathers absently. "Down worlders are those who share the Shadow World with us. We have always lived in an uneasy peace with them."

"Like vampires, werewolves, and…"

"The Fair Folk," Hodge said. "Faeries. And Lilith's children, being half-demon, are warlocks."

"So what are you Shadowhunters?"

"We are sometimes called the Nephilim," said Hodge. "In the Bible they were the offspring of humans and angels. The legend of the origin of Shadowhunters is that they were created more than a thousand years ago, when humans were being overrun by demon invasions from other worlds. A warlock summoned the Angel Raziel, who mixed some of his own blood with the blood of men in a cup, and gave it to those men to drink. Those who drank the Angel's blood became Shadowhunters, as did their children and their children's children. The cup thereafter was known as the Mortal Cup. Though the legend may not be fact, what is true is that through the years, when Shadowhunter ranks were depleted, it was always possible to create more Shadowhunters using the Cup."

"_Was_ always possible?"

"The Cup is gone," said Hodge. "Destroyed by Valentine, just before he died. He set a great fire and burned himself to death along with his family, his wife, and his child. Scorched the land black. No one will build there still. They say the land is cursed."

"Is it?"

"Possibly. The Clave hands down curses on occasion as punishment for breaking the Law. Valentine broke the greatest Law of all–he took up arms against his fellow Shadowhunters and slew them. He and his group, the Circle, killed dozens of their brethren along with hundreds of Down worlders during the last Accords. They were only barely defeated."

"Why would he want to turn on other Shadowhunters?"

"He didn't approve of the Accords. He despised Down worlders and felt that they should be slaughtered, wholesale, to keep this world pure for human beings. Though the Down worlders are not demons, not invaders, he felt they were demonic in nature, and that that was enough. The Clave did not agree–they felt the assistance of Down worlders was necessary if we were ever to drive off demon kind for good. And who could argue, really, that the Fair Folk do not belong in this world, when they have been here longer than we have?"

"Did the Accords get signed?"

"Yes, they were signed. When the Downworlders saw the Clave turn on Valentine and his Circle in their defense, they realized Shadowhunters were not their enemies. Ironically, with his insurrection Valentine made the Accords possible." Hodge sat down in the chair again. "I apologize, this must be a dull history lesson for you. That was Valentine. A firebrand, a visionary, a man of great personal charm and conviction. And a killer. Now someone is invoking his name…"

"But who?" Sharpay asked. "And what does my mother have to do with it?"

Hodge stood up again. "I don't' know. But I shall do what I can to find out. I will send messages to the Clave and also to the Silent Brothers. They may wish to speak with you."

Sharpay didn't ask who the Silent Brothers were. She was tired of asking questions whose answers only made her more confused. She stood up. "Is there any chance I could go home?"

Hodge looked concerned. "No, I–I wouldn't think that would be wise."

"There are things I need there, even if I'm going to stay here. Clothes–"

"We can give you money to purchase new clothes."

"Please," Sharpay said. "I have to see if–I have to see what's left."

Hodge hesitated, then offered a short, inverted nod. "If Ryan agrees to it, you may both go." He turned to the desk, rummaging among the papers. He glanced over his shoulder as if realizing she was still there. "He's in the weapons room."

"I don't know where that is."

Hodge smiled crookedly. "Church will take you."

She glanced toward the door where the fat blue Persian was curled up like a small ottoman. He rose as she came forward, fur rippling like liquid. With an imperious meow he led her into the hall. When she looked back over her shoulder, she saw Hodge already scribbling on a piece of paper. Sending a message to the mysterious Clave, she guessed. They didn't sound like very nice people. She wondered what their response would be.

* * *

><p>The red ink looked like blood against the white paper. Frowning, Hodge Starkweather rolled the letter, carefully and meticulously, into the shape of a tube, and whistled for Hugo. The bird, cawing softly, settled on his wrist. Hodge winced. Years ago, in the Uprising, he had sustained a wound to that shoulder, and even as light a weight as Hugo's–or the turn of a season, a change in temperature or humidity, too sudden a movement of his arm, awakened old twinges and the memories of pains better forgotten.<p>

There wee some memories, though, that never faded. Images burst like flashbulbs behind his lids when he closed his eyes. Blood and bodies, trampled earth, a white podium stained with red. The cries of the dying. The green and rolling fields of Idris and its endless blue sky, pierced by the towers of the Glass City. The pain of loss surged up inside him like a wave; he tightened his fist, and Hugo, wings fluttering, pecked angrily at his fingers, drawing blood. Opening his hand, Hodge released the bird, who circled his head as he flew up to the skylight and then vanished.

Shaking off his sense of foreboding, Hodge reached for another piece of paper, not noticing the scarlet drops that smeared the paper as he wrote.


	6. Forsaken

**FORSAKEN**

The weapons room looked exactly the way something called "the weapons room" sounded like it would look. Brushed metal walls were hung with every manner of sword, dagger, spike, pike, feather staff, bayonet, whip, mace, hook, athame, scythe, and bow. Soft leather bags filled with arrows dangled from hooks, and there were stacks of boots, leg guards, and gauntlets for wrists and arms. The place smelled of metal and leather and steel polish. Jason and Ryan, no longer barefoot, sat at a long table in the center of the room, their heads bent over an object between them. Ryan looked up as the door shut behind Sharpay. "Where's Hodge?" he said.

"Writing to the Silent Brothers."

Jason repressed a shudder. "Ugh."

She approached the table slowly, conscious of Jason's gaze. "What are you doing?"

"Putting the last touches on these." Ryan moved aside so she could see what lay on the table: three long slim wands of a dully glowing silver. They did not look sharp or particularly dangerous. "Sanvi, Sansanvi, and Semangelaf. They're seraph blades."

"Those don't look like knives. How did you make them? Magic?"

Jason looked horrified, as if she'd asked him to put on a tutu and execute a perfect pirouette. "The funny thing about mundies," Ryan said, to nobody in particular, "is how obsessed with magic they are for a bunch of people who don't even know what the word means."

"I know what it means," Sharpay snapped.

"No, you don't, you just think you do. Magic is a dark and elemental force, not just a lot of sparkly wands and crystal balls and talking goldfish."

"I never said it was a lot of talking goldfish, you–"

Ryan waved a hand, cutting her off. "Just because you call an electric eel a rubber duck doesn't make it a rubber duck, does it? And God help the poor bastard who decides they want to take a bath with the duckie."

"You're driveling," Sharpay observed.

"I'm not," said Ryan, with great dignity.

"Yes, you are," said Jason, rather unexpectedly. "Look, we don't do magic, okay?" he added, not looking at Sharpay. "That's all you need to know about it."

Sharpay wanted to snap at him, but restrained herself. Jason already didn't seem to like her; there was no point in aggravating his hostility. She turned to Ryan. "Hodge said I can go home."

Ryan nearly dropped the seraph blade he was holding. "_He said what_?"

"To look through my mother's things," she amended. "If you go with me."

"Ryan," Jason exhaled, but Ryan ignored him.

"If you really want to prove that my mom or dad was a Shadow hunter, we should look through my mom's things. What's left of them."

"Down the rabbit hole." Ryan grinned crookedly. "Good idea. If we go right now, we should have another three, four hours of daylight."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Jason asked, as Sharpay and Ryan moved toward the door. Sharpay glanced back at him. He was half-out of the chair, eyes expectant.

"No." Ryan didn't turn around. "That's all right. Sharpay and I can handle this on our own."

The look Jason shot Sharpay was as sour as poison. She was glad when the door shut behind her.

Ryan led the way down the hall, Sharpay half-jogging to keep up with his long-legged stride. "Have you got your house keys?"

Sharpay glanced down at her shoes. "Yeah."

"Good. Not that we couldn't break in, but we'd run a greater chance of disturbing any wards that might be up if we did."

"If you say so." The hall widened out into a marble-floored foyer, a black metal gate set into one wall. It was only when Ryan pushed a button next to the gate and it lit up that she realized it was an elevator. It creaked and groaned as it rose to meet them. "Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you know I had Shadow hunter blood? What there some way you could tell?"

The elevator arrived with a final groan. Ryan unlatched the fate and slid it open. The inside reminded Sharpay of a birdcage, all black metal and decorative bits of gilt. "I guessed," he said, latching the door behind them. "It seemed like the most likely explanation."

"You guessed? You must have been pretty sure, considering you could have killed me."

He pressed a button in the wall, and the elevator lurched into action with a vibrating groan that she felt all through the bones in her feet. "I was ninety percent sure."

"I see," Sharpay said.

There must have been something in her voice, because he turned to look at her. Her hand cracked across his face, a slap that rocked him back on his heels. He put his hand to his cheek, more in surprise than pain. "What the hell was that for!"

"The other ten percent."

* * *

><p>Ryan spent the train ride to Brooklyn wrapped in an angry silence. Sharpay stuck close to him anyway, feeling a little bit guilty, especially when she looked at the red mark her slap had left on his cheek.<p>

She didn't really mind the silence; it gave her a chance to think. She kept reliving the conversation with Jack, over and over in her head. It hurt to think about, like biting down on a broken tooth, but she couldn't stop doing it.

Farther down the train, two teenage girls sitting on an orange bench seat were giggling together. The sort of girls Sharpay had never liked at St. Xavier's, sporting pink jelly mules and fake tans. Sharpay wondered for a moment if they were laughing at her, before she realized with a start of surprise that they were looking at Ryan.

She remembered the girl in the coffee shop who had been staring at Troy. Girls always got that look on their faces when they thought someone was cute. She had nearly forgotten that Ryan _was_ cute, given everything that had happened. He didn't have Jason's delicate cameo looks, but Ryan's face was more interesting. In daylight his eyes were the color of a sapphire and were… looking right at her. He cocked an eyebrow. "Can I help you with something?"

Sharpay turned instant traitor against her gender. "Those girls on the other side of the car are staring at you."

Ryan assumed an air of mellow gratification. "Of course they are," he said. "I am stunningly attractive."

"Haven't you ever heard that modesty is an attractive trait?"

"Only from ugly people," Ryan confided. "The meek may inherit the earth, but at the moment it belongs to the conceited. Like me." He winked at the girls, who giggled and hid behind their hair.

Sharpay sighed. "How come they can see you?"

"Glamours are a pain to use. Sometimes we don't bother."

The incident with the girls on the train did seem to put him in a better mood. When they left the station and headed up the hill to Sharpay's apartment, he took one of the seraph blades out of his pocket and started flipping it back and forth between his fingers and across his knuckles, humming to himself.

"Do you have to do that?" Sharpay asked. "It's annoying."

Ryan hummed louder. It was a loud, tuneful sort of hum, somewhere between "Happy Birthday" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

"I'm sorry I smacked you," she said.

He stopped humming. "Just be glad you hit me and not Jason. He would have hit you back."

"He seems to be itching for the chance," Sharpay said, kicking an empty soda can out of her path. "What was it that Jason called you? Para-something?"

"_Parabatai__,_" said Ryan. "It means a pair of warriors who fight together–who are closer than brothers. Jason is more than just my best friend. My father and his father were when they were young. His father was my godfather–that's why I live with them. They're my adopted family."

"But your last name isn't Montez."

"No," Ryan said, and she would have asked what it was, but they had arrived at her house, and her heart had started to thump so loudly that she was sure it must be audible for miles. There was a humming in her ears, and the palms of her hands were damp with sweat. She stopped in front of the box hedges, and raised her eyes slowly, expecting to see yellow police tap cordoning off the front door, smashed glass littering the lawn, the whole thing reduced to rubble.

But there were no signs of destruction. Bathed in pleasant afternoon light, the brownstone seemed to glow. Bees droned lazily around the rosebushes under Madame Dorothea's windows.

"It looks the same," Sharpay said.

"On the outside." Ryan reached into his jeans pocket and drew out another one of the metal and plastic contraptions she'd mistaken for a cell phone.

"So that's a Sensor? What does it do?" she asked.

"It picks up frequencies, like a radio does, but these frequencies are demonic in origin."

"Demon shortwave?"

"Something like that." Ryan held the Sensor out in front of him as he approached the house. It clicked faintly as they climbed the stairs, then stopped. Ryan frowned. "It's picking up trace activity, but that could just be left over from that night. I'm not getting anything strong enough for there to be demons present now."

Sharpay let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "Good." She bent to retrieve her keys. When she straightened up, she saw the scratches on the front door. It must have been too dark for her to have seen them last time. They looked like claw marks, long and parallel, raked deeply into the wood.

Ryan touched her arm. "I'll go in first," he said. Sharpay wanted to tell him that she didn't need to hid behind him, but the words wouldn't come. She could taste the terror she'd felt when she'd first seen the Ravener. The taste was sharp and coppery on her tongue like old pennies.

He pushed the door open with one hand, beckoning her after him with the hand that held the Sensor. Once inside the entryway, Sharpay blinked, adjusting her eyes to the dimness. The bulb overhead was still out, the skylight too filthy to let in any light, and shadows lay thick across the chipped floor. Madame Dorothea's door was firmly shut. No light showed through the gap under it. Sharpay wondered uneasily if anything had happened to her.

Ryan raised his hand and ran it along the banister. It came away wet, streaked with something that looked blackish red in the dim light. "Blood."

"Maybe it's mine." Her voice sounded tinny. "From the other night."

"It's be dry by now if it were," Ryan said. "Come on."

He headed up the stairs, Sharpay close behind him. The landing was dark, and she fumbled her keys three times before she managed to slide the right one into the lock. Ryan leaned over her, watching impatiently. "Don't breathe down my neck," she hissed; her hand was shaking. Finally the tumblers caught, the lock clicking open.

Ryan pulled her back. "I'll go in first."

She hesitated, then stepped aside to let him pass. Her palms were sticky, and not from the heat. In fact, it was cool inside the apartment, almost cold–chilly air seeped from the entryway, stinking her skin. She felt goose bumps rising as she followed Ryan down the short hallway and into the living room.

It was empty. Startlingly, entirely empty, the way it had been when they'd first moved in–the walls and floor bare, the furniture gone, even the curtains torn down from the windows. Only faint lighter squares of paint on the wall showed where her mother's paintings had hung. As if in a dream, Sharpay turned and walked toward the kitchen, Ryan pacing her, his light eyes narrowed.

The kitchen was just as empty, even the refrigerator gone, the chairs, the table–the kitchen cabinets stood open, their bare shelves reminding her of a nursery rhyme. She cleared her throat. "What would demons," she said, "want with our microwave?"

Ryan shook his head, mouth curling under at the corners. "I don't know, but I'm not sensing any demonic presence right now. I'd say they're long gone."

She glanced around one more time. Someone had cleaned up the spilled Tabasco sauce, she noticed distantly.

"Are you satisfied?" Ryan asked. "There's nothing here."

She shook her head. "I want to see my room."

He looked as if he were about to say something, then thought better of it. "If that's what it takes," he said, sliding the seraph blade into his pocket.

The light in the hallway was out, but Sharpay didn't need much light to navigate inside her own house. With Ryan just behind her, she found the door to her bedroom and reached for the knob. It was cold in her hand–so cold it nearly hurt, like touching an icicle with your bare skin. She saw Ryan look at her quickly, but she was already turning the knob, or trying to. It moved slowly, almost stickily, as if the other side of it were embedded in something glutinous and syrupy–

The door blew outward, knocking her off her feet. She skidded across the hallway floor and slammed into the wall, rolling onto her stomach. There was a dull roaring in her ears as she pulled herself up to her knees.

Ryan, flat against the wall, was fumbling in his pocket, his face a mask of surprise. Looming over him like a giant in a fairy tale was an enormous man, big around as an oak tree, a broad-bladed ax clutched in one gigantic dead-white hand. Tattered filthy rags hung off his grimy skin, and his hair was a single matted tangle, thick with dirt. He stank of poisonous sweat and rotting flesh. Sharpay was glad she couldn't see his face–the back of his was bad enough.

Ryan had the seraph blade in his hand. He raised it, calling out: "Sansanvi!"

A blade shot from the tube. Sharpay thought of old movies where bayonets were hidden inside walking sticks, released at the flick of a switch. But she'd never seen a blade like this before: clear as glass, with a glowing hilt, wickedly sharp and nearly as long as Ryan's forearm. He struck out, slashing at the gigantic man, who staggered back with a bellow.

Ryan whirled around, racing toward her. He caught her arm, hauling her to her feet, pushing her ahead of him down the hall. She could hear the thing behind them, following; it's footsteps sounded like lead weights being dropped onto the floor, but it was coming on fast.

They sped through the entryway and out onto the landing, Ryan whipping around to slam the front door shut. She heard the click of the automatic lock and caught her breath. The door shook on its hinges as a tremendous blow struck against it from the inside of the apartment. Sharpay backed away to the stairs. Ryan glanced at her. His eyes were glowing with manic excitement. "Get downstairs! Get out of the–"

Another blow came, and this time the hinges gave way and the door flew outward. It would have knocked Ryan over if he hadn't moved so fast that Sharpay barely saw it; suddenly he was on the top stair, the blade burning in his hand like a fallen star. She saw Ryan look at her and shout something, but she couldn't' hear him over the roar of the gigantic creature that burst from the shattered door, making straight for him. She flattened herself against the wall as it passed in a wave of heat and stink–and then its ax was flying, whipping through the air, slicing toward Ryan's head. He ducked, and it thunked heavily into the banister, biting deep.

Ryan laughed. The laugh seemed to enrage the creature; abandoning the ax, he lurched at Ryan with his enormous fists raised. Ryan brought the seraph blade around in an arcing sweep, burying it to the hilt in the giant's shoulder. For a moment the giant stood swaying. Then he lurched forward, his hands outstretched and grasping. Ryan stepped aside hastily, but not hastily enough: The enormous fists caught hold of him as the giant staggered and fell, dragging Ryan in his wake. Ryan cried out once; there was a series of heavy and cracking thumbs, and then silence.

Sharpay scrambled to her feet and raced downstairs. Ryan lay sprawled at the foot of the steps, his arm bent beneath him at an unnatural angle. Across his legs lay the giant, the hilt of Ryan's blade protruding from his shoulder. He was not quite dead, but flopping weakly, a bloody froth leaking from his mouth. Sharpay could see his face now–it was dead-white and papery, latticed with a black network of horrible scars that almost obliterated his features. His eye sockets were red suppurating pits. Fighting the urge to gag, Sharpay stumbled down next to Ryan.

He was so still. She laid a hand on his shoulder, felt his shirt sticky with blood–his own or the giant's, she couldn't tell. "Ryan?"

His eyes opened. "Is it dead?"

"Almost," Sharpay said grimly.

"Hell." He winced. "My legs–"

"Hold still." Crawling around to his head, Sharpay slipped her hands under his arms and pulled. He grunted with pain as his legs slipped out from under the creature's spasming carcass. Sharpay let go, and he struggled to his feet, his left arm across his chest. She stood up. "Is your arm all right?"

"No. Broken," he said. "Can you reach into my pocket?"

She hesitated, nodded. "Which one?"

"Inside jacket, right side. Take out one of the seraph blades and hand it to me." He held still as she nervously slipped her fingers into his pocket. She was standing so close that she could smell the scent of him, sweat and soap and blood. His breath tickled the back of her neck. Her fingers closed on a tube and she drew it out, not looking at him.

"Thanks," he said. His fingers traced it briefly before he named it: "Sanvi." Like its predecessor, the tube grew into a wicked-looking dagger, its glow illuminating his face. "Don't watch," he said, going to stand over the scarred thing's body. He raised the blade over his head and brought it down. Blood fountained from the giant's throat, splattering Ryan's boots.

She half-expected the giant to vanish, folding in on itself the way the kid in Pandemonium had. But it didn't. The air was full of the smell of blood: heavy and metallic. Ryan made a sound low in his throat. He was white-faced, whether with pain or disgust she couldn't tell. "I told you not to watch," he said.

"I thought it would disappear," she said. "Back to its own dimension–you said."

"I said that's what happens to demons when they die." Wincing, he shrugged his jacket off his shoulder, baring the upper part of his left arm. "That wasn't a demon." With his right hand he drew something out of his belt. It was the smooth wand-shaped object he'd used to carve those overlapping circles into Sharpay's skin. Looking at it, she felt her forearm begin to burn.

Ryan saw her staring and grinned the ghost of a grin. "This," he said, "is a stele." He touched it to an inked mark just below his shoulder, a curious shape almost like a star. Two arms of the star jutted out from the rest of the mark, unconnected. "And this," he said, "is what happens when Shadow hunters are wounded."

With the tip of the stele, he traced a line connecting the two arms of the star. When he lowered his hand, the mark was shining as if it had been etched with phosphorescent ink. Sharpay watched, it sank into his skin, like a weighted object sinking into water. It left behind a ghostly reminder: a pale, thin scar, almost invisible.

An image rose in Sharpay's mind. Her mother's back, not quite covered by her bathing suit top, the blades of her shoulders and curves of her spine dappled with narrow, white marks. It was like something she had seen in a dream–her mother's back didn't really look like that, she knew. But the image nagged at her.

Ryan let out a sigh, the tense look of pain leaving his face. He moved the arm, slowly at first, then more easily, lifting it up and down, clenching his fist. Clearly it was no longer broken.

"That's amazing," Sharpay said. "How did you–?"

"That was an _iratze_–a healing rune," Ryan said. "Finishing the rune with the stele activates it." He shoved the slim wand into his belt and shrugged his jacket back on. With the toe of his boot he prodded the giant's corpse. "We're going to have to report this to Hodge," he said. "He'll freak out," he added, as if the thought of Hodge's alarm gave him some satisfaction. Ryan, Sharpay thought, was the sort of person who liked it when things here _happening_, even things that were bad.

"Why will he freak?" Sharpay said. "And I get that that thing isn't a demon–that's why the Sensor didn't register it, right?"

Ryan nodded. "You see the scars all over its face?"

"Yes."

"Those were made with a stele. Like this one." He tapped the wand in his belt. "You asked me what happened when you carve Marks onto someone who doesn't have Shadow hunter blood. Just one Mark will only burn you, but a lot of Marks, powerful ones? Carved into the flesh of a totally ordinary human being with no trace of Shadow hunter ancestry? You get this." He jerked his chin at the corpse. "The runes are agonizingly painful. The Marked ones go insane–the pain drives them out of their minds. They become fierce, mindless killers. They don't sleep or eat unless you make them, and they die, usually quickly. Runes have great power and can be used to do great good–but they can be used for evil. The Forsaken are evil."

Sharpay stared at him in horror. "But why would anyone do that to themselves?"

"Nobody would. It's something that gets done to them. By a warlock, maybe, some Down worlder gone bad. The Forsaken are loyal to the one who Marked them, and they're fierce killers. They can obey simple commands, too. It's like having a–a slave army." He stepped over the dead Forsaken, and glanced over his shoulder at her. "I'm going back upstairs."

"But there's nothing there."

"There might be more of them," he said almost as if he were hoping there would be. "You should wait here." He started up the steps.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said a shrill and familiar voice. "There are more of them where the first one came from."

Ryan, who was nearly at the top on the stairs, spun and stared. So did Sharpay, although she knew immediately who had spoken. That gravelly accent was unmistakable.

"Madame Dorothea?"

The old woman inclined her head regally. She stood in the doorway of her apartment, dressed in what looked like a tent made of raw purple silk. Gold chains glittered on her wrists and roped her throat. Her long badger-striped hair straggled from the bun pinned to the top of her head.

Ryan was still staring. "But…"

"More _what_?" Sharpay asked.

"More Forsaken," replied Dorothea with a cheerfulness that, Sharpay felt, didn't really fit the circumstances. She glanced around the entryway. "You have made a mess, haven't you? I'm sure you weren't planning on cleaning up either. Typical."

"But you're a _mundane_," Ryan said, finally finishing his sentence.

"So observant," said Dorothea, her eyes gleaming. "The Clave really broke the mold with you."

"The bewilderment on Ryan's face was fading, replaced by a dawning anger. "You know about the Clave?" he demanded. "You knew about them, and you knew there were Forsaken in this house, and you didn't notify them? Just the existence of Forsaken is a crime against the Covenant–"

"Neither Clave nor Covenant have ever done anything for me," said Madame Dorothea, her eyes flashing angrily. "I owe them nothing." For a moment her gravelly New York accent vanished, replaced with something else, a thicker, deeper accent that Sharpay didn't recognize.

"Ryan, stop it," Sharpay said. She turned to Madame Dorothea. "If you know about the Clave and the Forsaken," she said, "then maybe you know what happened to my mother?"

Dorothea shook her head, her earrings swinging. There was something like pity on her face. "My advice to you," she said, "is to forget about your mother. She's gone."

The floor under Sharpay seemed to tilt. "You mean she's dead?"

"No." Dorothea spoke the word almost reluctantly. "I'm sure she's still alive. For now."

"Then I have to find her," Sharpay said. The world had stopped tilting; Ryan was standing behind her, his hand on her elbow as if to brace her, but she barely noticed. "You understand? I have to find her before–"

Madame Dorothea glanced at her door, then at Ryan and Sharpay. "I supposed you might as well come in," she said, finally. "I'll tell you what I can." She started toward the door, then halted on the threshold, glaring. "But if you tell anyone I helped you, Shadow hunter, you'll wake up tomorrow with snakes for hair and an extra pair of arms."

"That might be nice, an extra pair of arms," Ryan said. "Handy in a fight."

"Not if they're growing out of your…" Dorothea paused and smiled at him, not without malice. "Neck."

"Yikes," said Ryan mildly.

"Yikes is right, Evans." Dorothea marched into the apartment, her purple tent flying around her like a gaudy flag.

Sharpay looked at Ryan. "Evans?"

"It's my name." Ryan looked shaken. "I can't say I like that she knows it." He double glanced at her. "No relation between us. Evans is a popular name."

Sharpay glanced after Dorothea. The lights were on inside the apartment; already the heavy smell of incense was flooding the entryway, mixing unpleasantly with the stench of blood. "Still, I think we might as well try talking to her. What have we got to lose?"

"Once you've spent a bit more time in our world," Ryan said, "you won't ask me that again."


	7. The Five Dimensional Door

**THE FIVE-DIMENSIONAL DOOR**

Madame Dorothea's apartment seemed to have roughly the same layout as Sharpay's, though she'd made a very different use of the space. The entryway, reeking of incense, was hung with bead curtains and astrological posters. One showed the constellations of the zodiac, another a guide to Chinese magical symbols, and another showed a hand with fingers spread, each line on the palm carefully labeled. Above the hand Latinate script spelled out the words "_In Manibus Fortuna_." Narrow shelves holding stacked books ran along the wall beside the door.

One of the bead curtains rattled, and Madame Dorothea poked her head through. "Interested in chiromancy?" she said, noting Sharpay's gaze. "Or just nosy?"

"Neither," Sharpay said. "Can you really tell fortunes?"

"My mother had a great talent. She could see a man's future in his hand or the leaves at the bottom of his teacup. She taught me some of her tricks." She transferred her gaze to Ryan. "Speaking of tea, young man, would you like some?"

"What?" Ryan said, looking flustered.

"Tea. I find it both settles the stomach and concentrates the mind. Wonderful drink, tea."

"I'll have tea," Sharpay said, realizing how long it had been since she had eaten for drunk anything. She felt as if she'd been running on pure adrenaline since she woke up.

Ryan succumbed. "All right. As long as it isn't Earl Grey," he added, wrinkling his fine-boned nose. "I hate bergamot."

Madame Dorothea cackled loudly and disappeared back through the bead curtain, leaving it swaying gently behind her.

Sharpay raised her eyebrows at Ryan. "You hate bergamot?"

Ryan had wandered over to the narrow bookshelf and was examining its contents. "You have a problem with that?"

"You may be the only guy my age I've ever met who knows what bergamot is, much less that it's in Earl Grey tea."

"Yes, well," Ryan said, with a supercilious look, "I'm not like other guys. Besides," he added, flipping a book off the shelf, "at the Institute we have to take classes in basic medicinal uses for plants. It's required."

"I figured all your classes were stuff like Slaughter 101 and Beheading for Beginners."

Ryan flipped a page. "Very funny, Evans."

Sharpay, who had been studying the palmistry poster, whirled on him. "Don't call me that."

He glanced up, surprised. "Why not? It's your last name, isn't it?"

The image of Troy rose up behind her eyes. Troy the last time she had seen him, staring after her as she ran out of Java Jones. She turned back to the poster, blinking. "No reason."

"I see," Ryan said, and she could tell from his voice that he did see, more than she wanted him to. She heard him drop the book back onto the shelf. "This must be the trash she keeps up front to impress credible mundanes," he said, sounding disgusted. "There's not one serious text here."

"Just because it's not the kind of magic you do–," Sharpay began crossly.

He scowled furiously, silencing her. "I_ do not do magic_," he said. "Get it through your head: Human beings are not magic users. It's part of what makes them human. Witches and warlocks can only use magic because they have demon blood."

Sharpay took a moment to process this. "But I've seen you use magic. You use enchanted weapons–"

"I use tools that are magical. And just to be able to do that, I have to undergo rigorous training. The rune tattoos on my skin protect me too. If you tried to use one of the seraph blades, for instance, it'd probably burn your skin, maybe kill you."

"What if I got the tattoos?" Sharpay asked. "Could I use them then?"

"No," Ryan said crossly. "The Marks are only part of it. There are tests, ordeals, levels of training–look, just forget it, okay? Stay away from my blades. In fact, don't touch any of my weapons without my permission."

"Well, there goes my plan for selling them all on eBay," Sharpay muttered.

"Selling them on _what_?"

Sharpay smiled blandly at him. "A mythical place of great magical power."

Ryan looked confused, then shrugged. "Most myths are true, at least in part."

"I'm starting to get that."

The bead curtain rattled again, and Madame Dorothea's head appeared. "Tea's on the table," she said. "There's no need for you two to keep standing there like donkeys. Come into the parlor."

"There's a parlor?" Sharpay said.

"Of course there's a parlor," said Dorothea. "Where else would I entertain?"

"I'll just leave my hat with the footman," said Ryan.

Madame Dorothea shot him a dark look. "If you were half as funny as you thought you were, my boy, you'd be twice as funny as you are." She disappeared back through the curtain, her loud "Humph!" nearly drowned out by rattling beads.

Ryan frowned. "I'm not quite sure what she meant by that."

"Really," said Sharpay. "It made perfect sense to me." She marched through the bead curtain before he could reply.

The parlor was so dimly lit that it took several blinks for Sharpay's eyes to adjust. Faint light outlined the black velvet curtains drawn across the entire left wall. Stuffed birds and bats dangled from the ceiling on thin cords, shiny dark beads where their eyes should have been. The floor was layered with frayed Persian rugs that spat up puffs of dust underfoot. A group of overstuffed pink armchairs were gathered around a low table: A stack of tarot cards bound with a silk ribbon occupied one end of the table, a crystal ball on a gold stand the other. In the middle of the table was a silver tea service, laid out for company: a neat plate of stacked sandwiches, a blue teapot unfurling a thin stream of white smoke, and two teacups on matching saucers set carefully in front of two of the armchairs.

"Wow," Sharpay said weakly. "This looks great." She took a seat in one of the armchairs. It felt good to sit down.

Dorothea smiled, her eyes glinting with a sly humor. "Have some tea," she said, hefting the pot. "Milk? Sugar?"

Sharpay looked sideways at Ryan, who was sitting beside her and who had taken possession of the sandwich plate. He was examining it closely. "Sugar," she said.

Ryan shrugged, took a sandwich and set the plate down. Sharpay watched him warily as he bit into it. He shrugged again. "Cucumber," he said, in response to her stare.

"I always think cucumber sandwiches are just the thing for tea, don't you?" Madame Dorothea inquired, of no one in particular.

"I hate cucumber," Ryan said, and handed the rest of his sandwich to Sharpay. She bit into it–it was seasoned with just the right amount of mayonnaise and pepper. Her stomach rumbled in grateful appreciation of the first food she'd tasted since the nachos she'd eaten with Troy.

"Cucumber and bergamot," Sharpay said. "Is there anything else you hate that I ought to know about?"

Ryan looked at Dorothea over the rim of his teacup. "Liars," he said.

Calmly the old woman set her teapot down. "You can call me a liar all you like. It's true, I'm not a witch. But my mother was."

Ryan choked on his tea. "That's impossible."

"Why impossible?" Sharpay asked curiously. She took a sip of her tea. It was bitter, strongly flavored with a peaty smokiness.

Ryan expelled a breath. "Because they're half-human, half-demon. All witches and warlocks are crossbreeds. And because they're crossbreeds, they can't have children. They're sterile."

"Like mules," Sharpay said thoughtfully, remembering something from biology class. "Mules are sterile crossbreeds."

"Your knowledge of livestock is astounding," said Ryan. "All Down worlders are in some part demon, but only warlocks are the children of demon parents. It's why their powers are the strongest."

"Vampires and werewolves–they're part demon too? And faeries?"

"Vampires and werewolves are the result of diseases brought by demons from their home dimensions. Most demon diseases are deadly to humans, but in these cases they worked strange changes on the infected, without actually killing them. And faeries–"

"Faeries are fallen angels," said Dorothea, "cast down out of heaven for their pride."

"That's the legend," Ryan said. "It's also said that they're the offspring of demons and angels, which always seemed more likely to me. Good and evil, mixing together. Faeries are as beautiful as angels are supposed to be, but they have a lot of mischief and cruelty in them. And you'll notice most of them avoid midday sunlight–"

"For the devil has no power," said Dorothea softly, as if she were reciting an old rhyme, "except in the dark."

Ryan scowled at her. Sharpay said, "'Supposed to be'? You mean angels don't–"

"Enough about angels," said Dorothea, suddenly practical. "It's true that warlocks can't have children. My mother adopted me because she wanted to make sure there'd be someone to attend this place after she was gone. I don't have to master magic myself. I have only to watch and guard."

"Guard what?" asked Sharpay.

"What indeed?" With a wink the older woman reached for a sandwich from the plate, but it was empty. Sharpay had eaten them all. Dorothea chuckled. "It's good to see a young woman eat her fill. In my day, girls were robust, strapping creatures, not twigs like they are nowadays."

"Thanks," Sharpay said. She thought of Gabriella's tiny waist and felt suddenly gigantic. She set her empty teacup down with a clatter.

Instantly, Madame Dorothea pounced on the cup and stared into it intently, a line appearing between her penciled eyebrows.

"What?" Sharpay said nervously. "Did I crack the cup or something?"

"She's reading your tea leaves," Ryan said, sounding bored, but he leaned forward along with Sharpay as Dorothea turned the cup around and around in her thick fingers, scowling.

"Is it bad?" Sharpay asked.

"It is neither bad nor good. It is confusing." Dorothea looked at Ryan. "Give me _your_ cup," she commanded.

Ryan looked affronted. "But I'm not done with my–"

The old woman snatched the cup out of his hand and splashed the excess tea back into the pot. Frowning, she gazed at what remained. "I see violence in your future, a great deal of blood shed by you and others. You'll fall in love with the wrong person. Also, you have an enemy."

"Only one? That's good news." Ryan leaned back in his chair as Dorothea put down his cup and picked up Sharpay's again. She shook her head.

"There is nothing for me to read here. The images are jumbled, meaningless." She glanced at Sharpay. "Is there a block in your mind?"

Sharpay was puzzled. "A what?"

"Like a spell that might conceal a memory, or might have blocked out your Sight."

Sharpay shook her head. "No, of course not."

Ryan leaned forward alertly. "Don't be so hasty," he said. "It's true that she claims not to remember ever having had the Sight before this week. Maybe–"

"Maybe I'm just a late developer," Sharpay snapped. "And don't _leer_ at me, just because I said that."

Ryan assumed an injured air. "I wasn't going to."

"You were working up to a leer, I could tell."

"Maybe," Ryan acknowledged, "but that doesn't mean I'm not right. Something's blocking your memories, I'm almost sure of it."

"Very well, let's try something else." Dorothea put the cup down, and reached for the silk-wrapped tarot cards. She fanned the cards and held them out to Sharpay. "Slide your hand over these until you touch the one that feels hot or cold, or seems to cling to your fingers. The draw that one and show it to me."

Obediently Sharpay ran her fingers over the cards. They felt cool to the touch, and slippery, but none seemed particularly warm or cold, and none stuck to her fingers. Finally she selected one at random, and held it up.

"The Ace of Cups," Dorothea said, sounding bemused. "The love card."

Sharpay turned it over and looked at it. The card was heavy in her hand, the image on the front thick with real paint. It showed a hand holding up a cup in front of a rayed sun painted with gilt. The cup was made of gold, engraved with a pattern of smaller suns and studded with rubies. The style of the artwork was as familiar to her as her own breath. "This is a good card, right?"

"Not necessarily. The most terrible things men do, they do in the name of love," said Madame Dorothea, her eyes gleaming. "But it is a powerful card. What does it mean to you?"

"That my mother painted it," said Sharpay, and dropped the card onto the table. "She did, didn't she?"

Dorothea nodded, a look of pleased satisfaction on her face. "She painted the whole pack. A gift for me."

"So you say." Ryan stood up, his eyes cold. "How well did you know Sharpay's mother?"

Sharpay craned her head to look up at him. "Ryan, you don't have to–"

Dorothea sat back in her chair, the cards fanned out across her wide chest. "Jocelyn knew what I was, and I knew what she was. We didn't talk about it much. Sometimes she did favors for me–like painting this pack of cards–and in return I'd tell her the occasional piece of Down world gossip. There was a name she asked me to keep an ear out for, and I did."

Ryan's expression was unreadable. "What name was that?"

"Valentine."

Sharpay sat straight up in her chair. "But that's–"

"And when you say you knew what Jocelyn was, what do you mean? What was she?" Ryan asked.

"Jocelyn was what she was," said Dorothea. "But in her past she'd been like you. A Shadow hunter. One of the Clave."

"No," Sharpay whispered.

Dorothea looked at her with sad almost kindly eyes. "It's true. She chose to live in this house precisely because–"

"Because this is a Sanctuary." Ryan said to Dorothea. "Isn't it? Your mother was a Control. She made this space, hidden, protected–it's a perfect spot for Down worlders on the run to hide out. That's what you do, isn't it? You hide criminals here."

"You _would_ call them that," Dorothea said. "You're familiar with the motto of the Covenant?"

"_Sed led dura lex_," said Ryan automatically. "The Law is hard, but it is the Law."

"Sometimes the Law is too hard. I know the Clave would have taken me away from my mother if they could. You want me to let them do the same to others?"

"So you're a philanthropist." Ryan's lip curled. "I suppose you expect me to believe that Down worlders won't pay you handsomely for the privilege of your Sanctuary?"

Dorothea grinned, wide enough to show a flash of gold molars. "We can't all get by on our looks like you."

Ryan looked unmoved by the flattery. "I should tell the Clave about you–"

"You can't!" Sharpay was on her feet now. "You promised."

"I never promised anything." Ryan looked mutinous. He strode to the wall and tore aside one of the velvet hangings. "You want to tell me what this is?" he demanded.

"It's a door, Ryan," said Sharpay. It _was_ a door, set strangely in the wall between the two bay windows. Clearly it couldn't be a door that led anywhere, or it would have been visible from the outside of the house. It looked as if it were made of some softly glowing metal, more buttery than brass but as heavy as iron. The knob had been cast in the shape of an eye.

"Shut up," Ryan said angrily. "It's a Portal. Isn't it?"

"It's a five-dimensional door," said Dorothea, laying the tarot cards back on the table. "Dimensions aren't all straight lines, you know," she added, in response to Sharpay's blank look. "There are dips and folds and nooks and crannies all tucked away. It's a bit hard to explain when you've never studied dimensional theory, but, in essence, that door can take you anywhere in this dimension that you want to go. It's–"

"An escape hatch," Ryan said. "That's why your mother wanted to live here. So she could always flee at a moment's notice."

"The why didn't she–," Sharpay began, and broke off, suddenly horrified. "Because of me," she said. "She wouldn't leave without me that night. So she stayed."

Ryan was shaking his head. "You can't blame yourself."

Feeling tears gather under her eyelids, Sharpay pushed past Ryan to the door. "I want to see where she would have gone," she said, reaching for the door. "I want to see where she was going to escape to–"

"Sharpay, no!" Ryan reached for her, but her fingers had already closed around the knob. It spun rapidly under her hand, the door flying open as if she'd pushed it. Dorothea lumbered to her feet with a cry, but it was too late. Before she could even finish her sentence, Sharpay found herself flung forward and tumbling through empty space.


End file.
